Things My Mother Tried To Teach Me #3 – Reading

My mother collected Dick and Jane readers, and the Catholic John and Jane variants.

When I was learning to read in the early 1980s, Dick and Jane were no longer being published and the schools used a variety of simple phonics-friendly books. (My first grade reader, as I remember, featured ‘Mat the Rat’).

But my mom likes Dick and Jane. From all accounts, we kids liked Dick and Jane too. I know I have fond memories of mastering the first story in the first reader – a story that consisted entirely of the words “look, see, oh, Dick”, and “Jane.”

Ok, so it wasn’t great literature. 🙂

And I can’t say we learned how to read from Dick and Jane. But, for the most part, my siblings and I started school with a love for reading already implanted in us. My mother taught us to read herself, before sending us to school. I think she enjoyed teaching and watching us discover something she herself loves so much.

I can say that my mother taught me to read in more senses than one. My mother taught me to read before I entered kindergarten, starting with the word “look” and my own name. Later, I learned to read for fun, enjoyment, and comfort, following the example of my parents and older siblings. Still later, as my mother read every book that came into the house it seemed, including the ones I brought home as an adolescent, she taught me to read critically, with an eye to ideas.

Now…I revel in watching my son devour books and I find happiness in passing on this good gift to another generation.