I loved the part of a school day when the teacher asked us to 'just read quietly', either while she did some marking or went out of the classroom for something.
It happened frequently at junior school, sadly not so often at secondary school, although I lived for our twice weekly double periods of English literature and language. Even then I could lose myself in the reading. The reading out loud for the class, taking it in turns to read paragraphs was not fun. It broke the stories up too much and made remembering them more difficult as I got nervous when it was almost my turn, purely because of the anticipation of jumping in at the right time . I prayed for short paragraphs and easy to pronounce words ... and rarely got them.
These days of course I can read as much or as little as I want, indoors or outdoors, and indoors is always preferable on a hot day. I don't have to read out loud for the benefit of anyone else, occasionally I'll read a poem out loud if I'm enjoying the flow of it, but with only Ginger listening in there's no worry if I stumble over a word. 😄
Sue xx
My need for books, once I had learned to read, was so great that I once stole a book (aged about 6) from infant's school as I wanted to read more. I think Mrs Williams noticed, but bless her, said nothing . . . I get so desperate to read if there is no distraction, even the back of a sauce bottle will suffice! I still need to learn as well, and that keeps my brain occupied when I don't have a book, thinking things through.
ReplyDeleteJust surfaced from a complete (28 book) series of whodunnit novels sent by a friend. Very kind of her, and good stories, but it's nice to be able to choose what I shall read next again.
I was exactly the same, I spent every morning of my childhood reading the back of the Rice Krispie box, I almost knew it off by heart and yet still I had to read the words. I loved it when the Rice Krispies ran out and the Cornflake box appeared instead. I HAVE to read what's written, when I'm driving it's number plates, road signs, truck side etc, in the shops it's all the posters and signs. I didn't really realise how strong the need to read ALL the words surrounding me was until quite recently when Alan accidentally had his television subtitles turned on for something that was in English. I had to ask him to turn them off as reading the words and hearing them a smidge out of sync was really over-stimulating my brain and yet I couldn't stop reading!!
DeleteI’m so glad to find out I’m not the only one who reads everything! My OH thinks I’m weird :)) I’m convinced it helped me to learn Spanish a bit quicker when we moved here….road signs, posters, supermarket offers, advertising hoardings….. Every little helps!
DeleteI was the same when we lived in Wales, all the road signs there are written in Welsh and English, one above the other. I used to try and read both. 😄
Delete"Reading Round the class" was just so annoying and so slow.
ReplyDeleteYou have a good memory, I can't remember much about reading at primary school at all except for being allowed onto the Schools Mobile library to choose some books when we were the oldest in class.
My first memory is of me being 18 months old, Mum dated it for me when I described what I was wearing and what my thoughts were at the time. I have a LOT of memories stored in my head!!
DeleteI absolutely hated the Reading Aloud lessons. If there is a way to kill a child's interest in a book, it is to get 27 children to each read a sentence in turn. I was a confident reader, but my heart ached for friends who stumbled with embarrassment as they encountered new words . I still recall my daughter being desperately upset because she had to read a passage including the word FUCHSIA. And her somewhat thoughtless teacher said "if you don't know a word, sound it out" I am so grateful that both my girls, and their children, all adore reading now
ReplyDeleteYes, I really felt the pain for some of my friends as the reading travelled around the class. :-(
DeleteReading round the class was so boring. But a good way for the teacher at secondary school to assess our skill, I suppose. I do a reading at our church zoom service several times a month; I do check for difficult names and practise them out loud. On the day I find I've put so much effort into getting them right that I'll stumble over simple words in the next sentence!
ReplyDeleteI guess so, but assessing a skill in front of a whole roomful of friends is tough, I wonder if this is still done? I do hate it when I get someone's name wrong through it having an unusual spelling or pronunciation, this was a bit of a problem when we lived in Wales, and in a very Welsh speaking area.
DeleteI have loved reading since I was a small child, but dreaded reading aloud in class. Back then, I loved the Scholastic book company that would come a few times a year with fresh books we could buy. It was like Christmas! Now I work at the local library and am surrounded by books and I want to read all of them :) It will take me a lifetime.
ReplyDeleteWe had a book company that did that at our Junior school, but sadly I could never afford to buy the books. I still went and browsed the table, as though I was thinking about buying one, just to see and touch the books and see what was available. I loved being a member of the local library and going every Monday night with my Dad to change my four books, so that kept me more than happy.
DeleteI love to read too.
ReplyDeleteThere are so many of us that do, thank goodness. :-)
DeleteNot a bad life.
ReplyDeleteAny life with books is a good life. :-)
DeleteI love to read, and while I don't read as much as I used to I can still lose myself in a story.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
I so rarely read fiction, that when I do and it's a good book that flows well, I really appreciate the break.
DeleteI loved English and reading as a kid but I too hated the reading out loud in turns. I was a good reader but the slow stumbling of others spoilt the book and I would always have to read it again at home.
ReplyDeleteOoh, I used to do that if I had the book. Or sometimes when the teacher was otherwise engaged I would read ahead to get the story straight in my head before I was assaulted with slow reading or bad punctuation noticing.
DeleteI don't remember reading out aloud at school except for bl**dy Shakespeare which used to bore the pants off me! xxx
ReplyDeleteThe only Shakespeare we did was The Merchant of Venice, reading the play with us all taking it in turns being the characters. Lets just say we were not good actresses!!
DeleteI've always loved reading, my Dad taught me before i started school.
ReplyDeleteMy mum said I would read anything that was printed and that it would get me into trouble one day, and it did! Mum once asked me to get a tin of beans off the display at the end of an aisle. I was reading the back of a cereal packet at the time, could see the beans out of the corner of my eye and grabbed the nearest one, without missing a word on the cereal packet. The whole pyramid of baked beans came tumbling down arround me and apparently I carried on reading, whilst shop assistants cleared up around me, Mum glared at me with daggers and the store Manager glared at Mum. This was in a Tesco's store late 60s, early 70's when they used to build huge pyramid displays at the end of aisles. After that I got to sit in the car with my Dad, reading ofcourse! I think I was about 7.
Haha ... well that was one way to get reading time in the car with your Dad and avoid shopping. I remember those pyramids of packets or tins, it definitely ages us as they wouldn't be bothered to do that these days would they.
DeleteI've always been an avid reader, can't even remember being taught to read, I just always could lol. My dad wasn't a good man so the local library become my mom and I's safe space. We'd spend most of Saturday in there, her reading all the papers, magazines and me reading my way through book in the Children's section. I had one English teacher who I used to infuriate every term because she'd produce a new book for that term, look at me and I'd happily answer 'yep, read that one.'
ReplyDeleteI'm the same, I don't remember being taught to read at all. I do remember the 'Peter and Jane' Ladybird books at primary school and being able to read them from the get go. So I am assuming that I could read when I started school.
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