Literacy

When I think of literacy, the first thing that comes to mind is the ideas of school and education. School systems, in my personal experiences, have focused greatly on literacy through extensive and consistent reading. At a young age we were given more freedom when it came to choosing which books we wanted to read. The teachers just encouraged us to read as much as possible. I remember being in the 2nd grade in my Catholic grade school and having a specific time set aside just for reading. We could sit anywhere in the room, whether it be on the floor or in a squishy bean bag chair, and spend an hour reading a book of our choice. However, as we grew older that same sense of freedom began to fade away as our teachers began to assign specific books we were required to read. This was especially apparent throughout all four years I spend at a Catholic all-girls high school. Both the teachers and the curriculum were incredibly strict and a majority of my time was devoted to reading books for several classes. Even though I was not able to choose the books I read in high school, I am entirely grateful that my teachers assigned the books they did in those classes. I was exposed to many great books I would have never even considered reading. I believe that I greatly benefited from the constant encouragement I received from my teachers when it came to reading. Teachers should continue to consider every way possible to encourage their students to read every day and improve their levels of literacy.