Growing up, I had the privilege of being read to by my parents every night and throughout the day. I remember when I was two or three, my favorite book was the one about “ten monkeys jumping on a bed, one falls off and bumps his head..” You know the rest; well I was so proud of myself because, I could READ! That’s right I knew every single one of those words and could read it to you if you asked me, or if I just thought you needed to hear this amazing feat! In reality, of course, I couldn’t read the book at all, I just had it memorized.
Its so funny babysitting for kids who try and pull of the same exploit, and the best part is that they, like me at their age, really believe that they CAN read! Before gaining literacy, they can’t comprehend what its like to read a sentence without stumbling over every letter. I am so excited thinking about what it will be like seeing children progress in their reading and other skills over the course of a school year. It will be something extraordinary to witness.