Why Wouldn’t You Want To Feed A Child’s Desire To READ?!

I learned how to read before preschool, so when I was around four or five. If I remember it correctly, I was the only child in preschool that could read. Once a day, we sat down in a circle to sing. Every day, a kid got to pick the song by pulling a card out of a stack of ten, completely at random if you couldn’t read the lyrics on the back. When my turn was up, I quickly read the lyrics and then picked my favorite song. My teacher lost it and yelled at me in front of everyone.

Teacher #1: “You can’t do that! It’s unfair and it’s cheating!”

I was sent to timeout and wasn’t allowed to play with the rest of the kids in the “activity room”.

In first or second grade, we had a book to read. Our homework was usually to read a few pages of that book. I was bored at my afterschool care because the other kids were several years younger, so I read the entire book. Of course, this teacher also lost it and yelled at me.

Teacher #2: “Don’t read ahead! Reading ahead gives you an unfair advantage over the other kids!”

In fifth grade, our teacher gave the entire class a challenge. After reading a book, we were encouraged to write a short review and stick it to the classroom wall. If we wrote enough reviews to make it around the entire room, she’d prepare a surprise for us at the end of the year. Guess what? The teacher got mad because I read too much — three or four books a week — and told me that my book reviews didn’t count.

Looking back, I find it sad that none of these teachers just gave me extra books or assignments, when it was obvious that I enjoy reading. Instead, they actively tried to stop me from reading.

Luckily, none of this dissuaded me from enjoying reading!