Sunday, October 22, 2006

For the love of books

Every time I read a book to my students, I tell them how much I love the particular book we are reading. This week one of them finally said "Ms. J, you say that about every book!" Well, I guess it's true, I love books.

I guess I have to contribute my love of books to my very unique childhood. I was homeschooled from Kindergarten to Third grade, and that is most definitely where my love of reading began. Being homeschooled allowed me to have one on one interaction with my mom as we sat in our basement in the woods of Wisconsin and read. We read a lot. There were weekly trips to the library, where I would explore and find new favorites, and always check out the tried and true ones. I think that my love of books was encouraged by my being homeschooled, since I was able to march to the beat of my own drum.

I am proud now, to say that I was homeschooled, even in the public school setting, where it is often looked down upon. I am glad that my mom made a decision to invest in my brother and my sister and I, even though it was not the wisest decision financially. It is so amazing to see her now, being blessed by God because she made that decision 20 years ago. I am thankful and blessed.

So hopefully, I'll pass my love of reading onto my TV watching, video game playing students. Maybe one day they will tell a child in their life "Oh I love this book. My teacher used to read it to me". And in the meantime, I'll keep reading to them, and keep loving books.

2 comments:

Curly said...

For me, a brand new homeschooling mom, it is encouraging to hear that it was a positive experience for you.

What kind of school did you go to after 3rd grade? Why did she stop homeschooling at that age?

Thanks for sharing.

Cheri said...

Abi, I found your blog through curly mommy's blog! And I don't even know curly mommy! She had recently commented on my blog, so I checked hers out and lo and behold, there you are.

Wow. It is good to read what is going on with you and I will pray for you and your munchkins.