As a school teacher (I dare not say "former" because I know one day soon I will go back, plus I am only 28 years old) I have learned the utmost importance reading can have on a life. I was never a big reader growing up, in fact, I'd rather be out playing some sport than reading. I didn't discover the joy of reading until I was pregnant with my first child and someone recommended a book for me, "Redeeming Love" by Francine Rivers, who knew I would love Christian romance novels.
Along with finding my joy of reading and watching my students struggle to read a math textbook (which is just hard for most people in general) or just simply take notes I started thinking about my own children. Did I want my own children to always depend on their school teachers to be there beside them holding their hands through each new concept. All I ever heard from my students was, "I hate reading!" Its then I realized, along with some help from a reading incentive program we were running at the high school I worked at the time, that in order to use reading to discover knowledge on your own you first need to have a joy of reading. If you hate something in the first place, being forced to do it makes it even worse.
I started reading to my children the first week they were born. My husband thought I was crazy, but I did it anyway. Maybe it was just my voice that drew them to it at first, but just like in the photo I find them playing with books all by themselves now. They make up their own stories following the storyline that they have heard me read (hey, they are 4 and 2). I have even caught my girls playing dress up and acting some of the stories I have read to them. I have never seen them do that with of the hundreds of movies they have watched.
Alright, I'll stop rambling now. Thanks for listening. Read to your children daily. :)
Oh, I have decided to try and visit one St Lucie County park a week with my camera. We'll see how long I can keep it up with a 2 year old in tow. Lucky for me, she likes nature.
