Literacy Autobiography Anecdote

Ever since I can remember, I've loved to write. Even before I ever knew what I was even writing, I loved writing letters all over the place and practicing how pretty and straight I could make them on paper. My earliest memory of someone teaching me how to correctly write my letters on lines was with my dad. He used to pull out the lined/dotted lined paper and write all of the uppercase letters on one, and lowercase letters on the other. Then, I spent time writing my own version right next to his, trying to make it as much of a replica as possible. I never once had trouble with it and always had some of the neatest handwriting in my pre-k and kindergarden classes. Also, throughout elementary school I would always receive the award for best penmanship at the end of the semester or year. I never was able to get awards that dealt with math equations or problem solving but was very pleased that I had the best looking handwriting in the class! It wasn't long before I was receiving little awards for the most creative writer, too. It soon became something I loved to do and I began making hand-written chapter books at home as a hobby. I would get a bunch of computer paper and staple it together and begin breaking my book down by chapters. I remember it had to do with animals who got along as friends on a farm, but I can't remember the name! Ha! As far as writing today, I still love doing it as a hobby and enjoy writing just in general even if it is little notes to myself. I type very fast on the keyboard but would choose to handwrite something any day! I just love it!

When it comes to reading, I had a different story growing up. Reading vocabulary and learning definitions came very easy to me (I loved spelling and vocab tests!!) but I always remember struggling with comprehension. I always had a hard time focusing on what was in front of me and would find myself finishing reading a page but then not being able to recall what I just read. I believe a lot of it had to do with my focus and for some reason I just couldn't. I would sometimes find myself reading over a sentence multiple times until finally knowing in my mind what I just read. I was never sure why. One of the earliest chapter books I remember reading in school was Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in 3rd grade. No matter how easy a book was, my mind could never focus in on the story. I never had trouble reading words or making out anything, I read just fine, I just couldn't comprehend very well. Today, with all of the experiences I have had from reading, I am not as bad as I used to be. I enjoy reading so much! However, sometimes I do find myself briefly coming across some of the same focus problems when it comes to really understanding what I am reading. But other than that, I've overcome a lot of it! :)