Do you remember learning to read?
I don’t – not really. I have a distant recollection of Hairy Hat Man and Kicking King. Of tracing over endless letters and words, wondering what on earth a ‘nib’ was and why it featured so heavily in our work book when I’d never set eyes on one.
I’m pretty sure I could read when I started primary school, though, as I recall being distinctly unimpressed with Ben and his dog Lad (were they the 80s Biff and Chip?) with their endless running and looking.
But I can’t remember the exact moment when that c, a and t leapt off the page in the shape of a furry feline.
Now my five year old is at just that crucial stage, and I’m loving coming along on her journey as the squiggles and symbols suddenly take on a thrilling meaning.
She’s known the letters and sounds for some time, and could recognise a few short words and familiar names. But recently, it’s like something has clicked and the world is opening up around her every day. Suddenly, words are everywhere.
When I’m reading bedtime stories, she triumphantly points out words she’s spotted all over the page (much to her sister’s frustration).
She sits, intently, with a book held up to her face, as if willing it to make sense – like those Magic Eye posters in the 90 where, if you stared till you went cross-eyed, a fuzzy 3D palm tree or hot-air balloon would suddenly rise from the page.
When we go out, she keeps up a running commentary: “Bus!” “Shop!” “Way in!” “Mummy, what does ‘i-c-e c-r-e-a-m’ spell?”
It strikes me just how life-changing it is learning to read. The world suddenly reveals its secrets. All the exciting places are signposted for you. The park! The beach! A toy shop! You can see for yourself what’s on the menu, or inside the packet. And you know when mum and dad are whispering about c-a-k-e.
Of course, reading opens up the digital world too – and that can be not so much a can of worms as a writhing pit of poisonous snakes. My seven year old can confidently navigate to the songs and TV programmes she wants. She’s also pretty handy with a Google search. But what answers will she find there? As parents, we have an enormous responsibility to keep our children safe online – teaching them not just how to ask the questions, but also whether they can trust the answers. That’s a challenge I need to be ready for.
For now, though, I’m enjoying my daughter’s journey of discovery, while marvelling at how anyone ever makes sense of the English language – with its sees and seas; its coughs, roughs and boughs; its silent letters, borrowed words and contradictory rules. I’m looking forward to watching her get lost in a book of her own, transported to another world by those once mysterious squiggles.
But I’m going to keep reading those bedtime stories for as long as she’ll let me!
Kate Mounce 