Written language is an important part of life, and I believe that it is important to teach these skills to children, as well as encourage them to read. As a child, I hardly ever read anything, and writing was simply something that was required in school. I read the books required for our book reports, wrote the papers to accompany them, and of course my mother would read things to me, but other than that, it was never anything extremely meaningful to me.
However, when someone is young, they are able to pick up and understand concepts much easier than when they get older. I partially believe that is why high school is so much more difficult than elementary. However, in my own defense, high school classes are challenging! Anyhow, I digress. As a child, I was given a great foundation in writing and reading. The curriculum our school used was, in my own opinion, one of the best. It laid the groundwork and gave all of us a very strong foundation. As proof of that, my older brother and I grew up using the same curriculum and we both excel at English. However, my younger brother did not, and he struggles in that area.
As well as having a exceptional curriculum, I was encouraged to start reading at quite a young age. I have always been withdrawn, so finding things to do by myself was important. Because of that, my mother, and as well as my teacher, suggested that I attempt to read for pleasure. Of course, being a child, I detested the idea of reading anything outside of what I was required to read for school. However, when I picked up my first recreational book, The Door Within by Wayne Batson, I was enthralled! The main character, Aiden, was so similar to me. He was bullied and alone, and even though he was simply a character in a book, it gave me such a feeling of comfort to know that I was no longer alone.
I continued to follow Aiden on his adventures in the next two books; The Rise of the Wyrm Lord and The Final Storm. Ultimately, Aiden and his new found friends prevail, conquer, and destroy the evil threatening the world. Altogether, the trilogy was rather cliche, but for little, 10 year old me, it was the most incredible thing in the world! Someone like me, someone who had been bullied and alone for most of their life had been able to overcome and save the world once and for all. From that moment on, I was prepared to deal with the barrage of insults at school because that is what Aiden would want me to do.
After that, I picked up whatever book I could find, and when that was no longer enough, I began writing my own stories with my own characters. It not only allowed me to escape, but it also helped me excel at my studies as well as teach me how to communicate with others. Additionally, some people may not realize, but I feel that is imperative that children have someone they are able to relate to and look up to, especially children who are bullied on a day to day basis. Whether it be an adult, a friend, or a character in a book, they need that person. I cannot put enough emphasis on this fact.
To return to the subject, because of that encouragement and the foundation that was laid for me, English is my best subject. I feel confident when taking English tests and constructing papers. As well as feeling confident in the subject, I am also able to do fairly well in other classes because I am able to read and understand the instructions or material. For these reason, and because written language skills will be used for the rest of peoples’ lives, I believe that is in exceedingly important to inspire children to read of their own accord, and to also lay the groundwork for something they will use for the rest of their lives.
Reflection
Looking back on this assignment, now that I've finished the class, I feel that it was a great starting point. I would have wanted to change a few things about it, but part of my feels kind of nostalgic over this. It's really quite silly, though. Considering this was written less than a year ago, and I'm not even entirely sure I made any improvements. Anyway, I digress. My views on reading will most likely never change as I grow up, seeing that I have a more personal tie with reading, but I never know what I'll be like 2 or 4 years from now.
However, when someone is young, they are able to pick up and understand concepts much easier than when they get older. I partially believe that is why high school is so much more difficult than elementary. However, in my own defense, high school classes are challenging! Anyhow, I digress. As a child, I was given a great foundation in writing and reading. The curriculum our school used was, in my own opinion, one of the best. It laid the groundwork and gave all of us a very strong foundation. As proof of that, my older brother and I grew up using the same curriculum and we both excel at English. However, my younger brother did not, and he struggles in that area.
As well as having a exceptional curriculum, I was encouraged to start reading at quite a young age. I have always been withdrawn, so finding things to do by myself was important. Because of that, my mother, and as well as my teacher, suggested that I attempt to read for pleasure. Of course, being a child, I detested the idea of reading anything outside of what I was required to read for school. However, when I picked up my first recreational book, The Door Within by Wayne Batson, I was enthralled! The main character, Aiden, was so similar to me. He was bullied and alone, and even though he was simply a character in a book, it gave me such a feeling of comfort to know that I was no longer alone.
I continued to follow Aiden on his adventures in the next two books; The Rise of the Wyrm Lord and The Final Storm. Ultimately, Aiden and his new found friends prevail, conquer, and destroy the evil threatening the world. Altogether, the trilogy was rather cliche, but for little, 10 year old me, it was the most incredible thing in the world! Someone like me, someone who had been bullied and alone for most of their life had been able to overcome and save the world once and for all. From that moment on, I was prepared to deal with the barrage of insults at school because that is what Aiden would want me to do.
After that, I picked up whatever book I could find, and when that was no longer enough, I began writing my own stories with my own characters. It not only allowed me to escape, but it also helped me excel at my studies as well as teach me how to communicate with others. Additionally, some people may not realize, but I feel that is imperative that children have someone they are able to relate to and look up to, especially children who are bullied on a day to day basis. Whether it be an adult, a friend, or a character in a book, they need that person. I cannot put enough emphasis on this fact.
To return to the subject, because of that encouragement and the foundation that was laid for me, English is my best subject. I feel confident when taking English tests and constructing papers. As well as feeling confident in the subject, I am also able to do fairly well in other classes because I am able to read and understand the instructions or material. For these reason, and because written language skills will be used for the rest of peoples’ lives, I believe that is in exceedingly important to inspire children to read of their own accord, and to also lay the groundwork for something they will use for the rest of their lives.
Reflection
Looking back on this assignment, now that I've finished the class, I feel that it was a great starting point. I would have wanted to change a few things about it, but part of my feels kind of nostalgic over this. It's really quite silly, though. Considering this was written less than a year ago, and I'm not even entirely sure I made any improvements. Anyway, I digress. My views on reading will most likely never change as I grow up, seeing that I have a more personal tie with reading, but I never know what I'll be like 2 or 4 years from now.