Villa, Jessa Mae P.

EL 160

Reading is the first step in everything we do. When we want try to cook food we have never cooked
before, we need to read the instructions first to achieve the taste of the food to be cooked. Reading
takes us to everywhere. Reading is our outlet to see the outside world and imagination we can only
create. Reading brings people together, not physically, by reading about their life, culture, and customs.
Reading is the foundation to success. If you want to be successful, start to learn how to read first.

When I was about 5 years of age, I remember that everytime my parents teaches my sister to read the
alphabet, I always stay beside her because I was curious about what they were doing. After few days of
curiosity, I started to mimic the sounds that my sister was making everytime my mother flashes a card of
the ABC flash cards. With the repeatitions of the sounds, I was able to recognize which is A to B and the
other alphabets. Everytime I was correct, my mother would give me candies as a reward that made me
wanna have more correct answer. It made me very eager to learn the other alphabets.

When I entered elementary, I was already familiar with the ABC and the sounds they make. My teacher
taught me how to read by syllabicating the words first, pronounces each syllabes, then made me repeat
them until I was able to make the sounds of the syllables and connect it together to form the word I was
reading. My teacher made me read one word first, then two words, three words, and so on. After that,
my teacher made me read a short story to determine my level of fluency. When I started reading, there
were words familiar to me so the reading was easy and smooth, but then as I continued reading, I saw
unfamiliar words. That's the time that I stopped reading the short story for a moment and don't have a
choice but to ask my teacher. My teacher will only repeat unfamiliar words to me twice only. There's a
ruler or stick beside. My teacher spanked me with everytime I committed mistakes in reading words.
Which served as a punishment everytime I asked how to read the words thrice. If I don't finished the
story even when it's recess time, I was not allowed to take snacks. My teacher would just let me sit
down inside and made me continue reading while all my other classmates were happy taking their
snacks. During class participation on reading, my teacher will call our names one by one, need to stand
up, read the words written in the blackboard and if you can't read it, you have to stand up till the class
finishes. There was also a quiz of reading made by my grade one teacher before and threaten us to
repeat grade 1 again if we don't pass. In the quiz, the number of words you have read correctly will be
your score and that was out of 10. With the threat of repeating grade 1 again and with the same teacher
again, I studied the words from previous lessons and words that my teacher made me read. That threat
served as my motivation to learn how to read better and properly. Until one day, I was able to read on
my own and understand the meaning of the words correctly.

In school, children are forced to do what the teacher says not like at home that when a mother tells her
child something to do, the can either do it or not and have the choice to say yes or no. There are several
reasons why learning to read is much more effective than learning to reading at home. First, the
distraction just like the television, cellphones, or even playmates of the child waiting outside. Second,
the instructional materials are more efficient and better in school than at home. Third, the child is forced
to read when there's a teacher in front of her because she is embarrassed and afraid to get scolded.
Lastly, the child will have eager determination to read and get good grades in school because of the
thought that her parents will reward her at the end of the school year.
Reading should put one as a habit because it is the exercise of the brain to develop cognitive skills.
Reading is very beneficial to everyone for it provides us many information and explore great ideas to use
in our day-to-day living. Reading makes us smarter and wiser because of the exposure to informations.
When the brain is not exercised or if one stops reading, the brain will then stops to function as well.