I’ve been thinking, at what point in my life I gained a true appreciation for learning and what specific events led to this realization.
When I began 2nd grade, I transferred from a Montessori school to a public school. I made a smooth transition socially; however, I immediately began the “new student” assessments with my teacher to determine where I should be placed. For math, I must have done fine since I stayed with the majority of my classmates during our math lessons. For reading, I must have done poorly since my teacher asked me to go with five or six other students to the back of the classroom with Ms. Jones. I remember the reading assessment involved asking me to read aloud 6 or 7 words and tell my teacher, in front of the class, the meaning of the words. As a new student, I was self-conscious about trying to sound out the words, especially in front of my classmates. This brief evaluation cast me into the slow reading group for my class.
As the school year progressed, I became more and more self-conscious about leaving the majority of my classmates to join Ms. Jones. Also, the rest of my classmates were reading from a thick hardback book for their reading lessons and I, along with the other slow reading group, was reading from these thin, flimsy paperback books called Dinosaurs, Lions and Tigers. I recall the reading sessions were easy for me and I began to get bored with the lessons. As much as this was a frustrating time for me as I developed my reading skills, it was an exciting time for me as I excelled in math. To counter my demoralizing separation from my class for reading, I looked forward to and embraced the opportunity to raise my hand, complete extra credit, and take tests in math.
My parents were both educators and my mother was a kindergarten teacher at another public elementary school. One day she asked me what I liked most about school and she picked up on my exuberance for math. She probed further and asked me about reading. I told her that it was easy. I shared that one of the students in my reading group would roll up the lesson book and make a telescope. Knowing that the reading book for 2nd grade should be a hardback book and not a paperback book, my mother asked for a parent conference with my teacher. After a non-productive meeting with my teacher and Ms. Jones, she began her own home tutoring plan for me to get back on grade level for reading. This required me to advance through four readers to be on grade level for the fall of my 3rd grade year. With very little coordination with Ms. Jones, my mother spent Thanksgiving, winter and spring breaks, Saturday mornings and the summer working with me to be sure I developed the reading skills and vocabulary to be on grade level.
When I returned from summer break to begin 3rd grade, I tested on grade level. Through the diligence and patience of my mother, along with my effort, I advanced two grade levels in one year. That is when I made 3 important discoveries: 1) learning and education are a priority as demonstrated by the sacrifice my mother made spending time with me over my 2nd grade year; 2) learning takes effort and work, but it is worth it; and 3) I love learning and value it.
Today, many parents may find themselves in the same situation as my parents, but they do not have a road map, path or tool to challenge their high achieving child to push ahead or to help their struggling child through remediation. Because of my mother’s profession and expertise, our family had a path to take to meet my learning needs and I am forever grateful to both of my parents for their engagement, diligence and sacrifice.
Do you love learning? If yes, when did you begin to value learning?
