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Young Child
As a young child, my parents didn't read to me because they didn't want me to learn the wrong pronunciations of words. My parents were immigrants from Hungary and English was their second language. My mom would take me to the library to pick out books and I looked at pictures instead of reading the words. -
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Early Elementary (1st-3rd grade)
I was a slow reader but put in the higher reading group. I was very self-conscious while reading. I would always pick the same book from the library and felt lost if I couldn't find it. I would also try to read books that were written in Hungarian at home. -
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Intermediate Elementary (4th - 6th grade)
I didn't like to read. I would order posters instead of books from the scholastic book orders at school. I was embarrassed that my parents spoke Hungarian. -
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Junior High School (7th and 8th grade)
My neighborhood friends talked about different teen romance novels. I wanted to be included in their conversations, so I read the book that they liked the most. The book was "Up in Seth's Room." This was the beginning of reading teen romance novels. I started to like reading. -
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High School
I continued to read romance novels, but I still wasn't a strong reader. I had a hard time keeping up with all the reading in high school. I can remember reading a lot of Sparks notes for my English literature classes. However, I enjoyed learning grammar. I use to edit my parents notes and letters for them. I feel that my high school English teachers influenced my writing skills. They were difficult graders, but I found writing in college easier. -
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College
I enjoyed math from elementary through high school, so I decided to major in Finance. I still hadn't developed a love for reading and I wasn't the type of person to use sophisticated vocabulary. However, I enjoyed doing research for my courses. -
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After college (before having kids)
I enjoyed reading romance novels, mainly Danielle Steel and Nicholas Sparks. I loved reading on the beach. -
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New mom
As a new mom, I started collecting books to read to my son. I would read him three books before naps and three books before bedtime. I loved reading to him and would animate some of the characters in the book. He loved listening to anyone who would read to him. But, I found my parents afraid to read to him for the same reason they didn't read to me. I really emphasized that it didn't matter how they sounded to him. He loved the interaction. -
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My third child didn't like books
I continued the routine of reading to my children. The older two would pick out their favorite books for me to read. I would pick a new one to add to the pile before bedtime reading. However, my third child would throw the book out of my hand every time I tried to read to him. I thought it was odd. I began noticing that he couldn't retrieve words when asked but he could identify items when asked to find them. And so the journey began to find out why. -
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Advocating for my son
In pre-school, I had my son tested at Child Find each year until he entered kindergarten. I was told that he was fine and boys develop slower. I continued to advocate and followed a dear friend's advice to have him tested privately. He had dyslexia! Our world changed and I have learned so much from him.