My journey to
Raising Readers…
My childhood was centred around reading. I developed a deep love for it. I mean, how could I not - I was 10 years old when the Harry Potter novels were first released! I have such fond memories of eagerly awaiting my father’s return from the bookstore with the latest Harry Potter novel in hand, just for me. How magical it was to get lost in the world of Hogwarts!
Some of my favourite authors consisted of Alison Lester, Lauren Child and Roald Dahl. I now realise just how fortunate I was as a child because learning to read wasn’t difficult for me. I can, however, remember students in my class who struggled to read. I remember their body language, the looks on their faces and their trembling voices when it was their turn to read aloud in front of the class.
Little did I know, I would be seeing children showing these same tendencies when I became a teacher myself. And little did I know, I would make it my mission to ensure that as many children as possible begin their school journeys with the foundational skills they need to read and succeed.
My journey to
Raising Readers…
I graduated from the Australian Catholic University in 2017 with a Bachelors Degree in Primary School Teaching. You bet I’ve never made any of my students read aloud in front of their peers!
My core motivation in my teaching career is to have a profound positive impact on my students and I’d like to believe I’m doing just that (yes, I’m still in the classroom today). In my very first year of teaching, there was a student who had a profound impact on me and is one of the driving forces behind the creation of Raising Readers. They opened my eyes up to something I’d never considered as a Grade 4 teacher - what happens when one of your students doesn’t know how to read. At first I didn’t know that this was in fact the case. All I noticed was their avoidance, the poor choices they were making throughout their school day, the disruptions they would cause in class time, the fact that their peers didn’t want to be associated with them because of their reputation. I soon realised that they were doing everything in their power to hide the fact that they didn’t know how to read and therefore couldn’t access any learning at the Grade 4 level.
I think about this student often and hope they received the intervention they so desperately needed to change the trajectory of their life. Unfortunately at this stage of my career, I hadn’t received the proper training to know how to intervene and provide this student with the assistance they so desperately needed. More on that in an upcoming blog post!
My journey to
Raising Readers…
After giving birth to my son in 2023 , I found myself lost in his world. What can I do to best support his development? Will he be an avid reader like his mummy and daddy are? Is reading to him everyday enough? Surely there is more I can be doing to support his developing brain. If I, as a primary school educator with many years of experience felt this way, how must other parents be feeling who do not have a background in education?
I want to give my son the best possible chance of experiencing success in his schooling years. I don’t want him to be one of those children who dips their head low, experiences feelings of shame and ultimately avoids engaging in school because they don’t believe in their abilities.
I want to spread awareness to parents of young children and inform them about the many ways, big and small, that they can positively impact the future academic success of their child. I want to empower parents to feel confident in their abilities to guide their little ones on their learning journey.
So, here is Raising Readers. I’m here to make your journey a little easier, and I hope you find just want you need.
