Dear Teacher,
I know there must be a reason for the phrase
“reluctant reader,” but sometimes I wish it could be “emerging,” or “gradually
improving,” or even “promising reader.”
To my ear “reluctant” sounds too gloomy and unpromising.
Maybe that’s because I truly believe that every young person has the potential
to love reading… once they learn to overcome their difficulties and master the
skill.
I’m sure that I myself would have been labeled a
reluctant reader. In June of 1958, when I reached the end of third grade, my
parents were told by the school principal that due to my poor my reading ability
I was not ready for fourth grade. Instead I would have to repeat third grade
the following year.
Back then, labels like “reluctant reader” and
“learning disability” didn’t exist. Dyslexia probably did, but I don’t recall
hearing it applied to me. Instead, I was labeled an underachiever, which
basically meant I was lazy.
To this day I don’t know why I struggled with reading,
or why I still read slowly, or why I still have difficulty spelling. I do know
that I was fortunate to have parents who cared enough to send me to a reading
tutor that summer, a tutor who got me to read by doing two pretty simple
things:
-- Upon
learning that I loved animals and hoped to work at the Bronx Zoo someday, she
found the wonderful (and sadly not always in print) stories of Gerald Durrell,
a naturalist and zookeeper who traveled the world collecting critters.
-- She motivated me to read those stories by supplying me with pretzels and ginger ale (we weren’t allowed to have candy, salty snacks, or soda at home).
As a result, I spent the summer reading (and only gained
a few extra pounds), and was able to go into fourth grade the following fall.
Even more importantly, I developed a life-long love of reading.
These days, I have a special place in my heart for those “promising,” and “gradually
improving,” readers. When I’m doing school visit or Skyping with classes, I
make a point of telling students about my personal struggles with learning to
read and write. Because I think they need to know that it’s okay to struggle,
and it’s even okay to fail … as long as they keep trying.
After all, that’s what I learned to do.
Sincerely, Todd
