In today’s modern society, children are taught literacy skills from a tender young age. Basically, these skills include reading, writing and performing simple calculations. While amajor part of learning takes place at school, literacy skills can also be acquired through a personal initiative by individual learners. The children, therefore, develop these skills in different ways, for example, some develop an interest in learning on their own, while some are taught by their parents, teachers, or their siblings. Nonetheless, education is the key to success, and everyone should get a chance to imbibe it because formal education emphasizes on literacy skills and enables children to develop them at a young age through practice and inspiration. The modern society expects everyone to be literate and well educated.
When I was three years old, I was eager to read and write like my ten yearold brother. I could see him sit with a book on the table and after a while, makesome marks on the book. I did not understand what he was doing or its significance, but I got interested, and my aim was to be like him. For once, I was jealous because I could hear my father commend him whenever he presented his book. I too wanted to be praised, soI would take my brother’s book and doodle on it, which indeed made no sense. I would then show it to my mother who never failed to approve my efforts.
After a month, my father bought me a small book and a pencil for my writing practice. This proved their faithin me that I would soon perfect my writing before I began my formal education. I would go out and boast to my friends in the neighborhood that I knew how to write, and they would get jealous. My father then bought me an alphabets chart, andmy brother would help me read the alphabets aloud.I would pronounce every letter after him. Initially it was hard to adapt and pronounce the letters correctly, but the consistency and regularity of the tuition made the letters easy to read and understand.
The following year, I enrolled in kindergarten wherethe environment was new, but I had a chance to adapt comfortably because our home was very close to the school. Our first lesson in kindergarten was to learn how to read and write, and the teacher was surprised that I already knew the basics of how to read, which, according to her, was a great achievement. I was motivated because the rest of my classmates did not knowas much as I did. The learning process in our kindergarten was fascinating, and my reading and writing abilities developed rapidly. After one year, I was able to write a lot of words on my own.
The reading and writing skills that I possess today were enhanced by many factors from my past. At a tender age, my interests were to read magazines and articles, rather than just play,due to which reading became my hobby. It also helped me grow into a responsible and obedient person because those traits were a requisite in order for my parents to buy me books. My level of intelligence was enhanced, and even my performance at school appealed to everyone. I liked creative writing ever since I was young. When I was in fourth grade, I wrote a composition about myself which was commended by my English teacher as a good article. She bought me an English course book as a gift for my performance.
My Englishteacher positivelyimpacted my literacy skills and level of intelligence throughdaily allocation of interesting assignments whichwould increase our interaction with course material and would help us manage our time well. The assignmentshelped us prepareeffectively for the final examinations.Additionally, it was our family tradition to study every night before retiring to bed.Reading at bed-time has since become a habit of mine. Being able to read and write like my brother gave me a sense of accomplishment which motivated me to increase my reading and writing habits.My parents would take us to the library every weekend which enabled both me and my brother to enhance our learning by reading the various books available there. I read numerous story books and was able to explain and summarize whatever I read and present it to my parents every night. They were very proud of me because of my good literary skills.
Most of the time, I could write skilleddescriptive compositions and narratives which were my best assignments during my primary education. I wrote many samples which I shared with my friends, and later filed for future reference. I also read articles from various magazines and gazettes during my spare time, and was impressed by the content and the skill of the writers. They had interesting stories which were easy to understand. I also spentmuch of my time in reading passages from my course-book and writing the related questions, which I later presented my teacher.
I gained a lot of recognition from my writing skills. First, I was always selected to represent my school in symposiums and writing contests,where Iwas usuallyadjudged the best writer and received many awards.Moreover, a magazine hired me as a writer due to my fame, and my work began to be noticed on a national level, receiving positive comments from a multitude of people who read my articles.
My passion for reading and writing made me a good public speaker. I was often elected to speak during the annual graduation ceremonies. My eloquent and articulate speeches would keep the audience glued till the end. However, I started losing interest in writing and reading when I completed my lower level of education due to some negative comments from my jealous peers. I later regained my confidence and overcame all the problems when I joined a high school where we had a lot of composition writing. It is believed that natural skills do not fade away, and I proved it right by portraying my better skills in writing.
Writing and reading newspaper column articles is a literacy habit that I have not dropped since childhood. While at an early age I concentrated on simple articles with children themes, I have upgraded to more complex topics such as politics and environmental issues. Reading articles written by others especially experts in these fields has significantly improved my literacy skills. I have learned how to structure my articles better while also choosing the right kind of words and phrases to convey my message. I have also learned how to incorporate literacy devices to appeal to my audiences. I also understand the topics better and my audiences even best.
In conclusion, my passion has always been reading and writing, which skills Ideveloped at a young age, continued to enhance them as I progressed with my studies. Parents should help their children develop an interest in literacy skills early in life. Literacy skills are always beneficial to people, more so in the case of students because they are now indispensable in modern life. Everyone should, therefore, take a keen interest in developing effective literacy skills.