Dnasia's Literacy History

 

Hi everyone! I'm so glad to be a part of this class and to meet all these new different people. So first off, my name is D'nasia Johnson and I am a sophomore here at NJCU. I am 20 years old and my major is psychology. I chose psychology as my major because I want to become a therapist for children so they can receive the help they need. A lot of children may not know how to express their feelings properly and that can stay with them to adulthood. Therefore, I would like to provide them with what they need. Some of my interests include gaming, reading, painting, and shopping. I am all about self-care and I take time out of my day to try and do at least one of the activities I mentioned previously.

  When thinking about my literacy history the two people that come to mind are my mom and dad. They wanted me to become literate early on so by the time I started school, I wouldn’t have any issues. Growing up, every time my dad would go to a store, he would buy me reading workbooks. My mom would reward me with a toy for every quiz that I passed that was included in the book. Over time, my parents noticed that I easily caught on with my literacy. So, since they noticed that, my dad started buying me books that were a grade level higher than what I was. Then, he started to increase the grade levels even more to test my reading and comprehension. I feel like my parents were my greatest inspiration and my support system in becoming literate.

  In the school system, I can remember every English teacher I had early on giving each student a reading group and a comprehension test. The tests that they gave weren’t tests, they were just assessments to see what our reading and comprehension level was. During that assessment, the teacher would pull us aside from the rest of the class and have us pick a book that had a level on the back that the students couldn’t see. We would have to read about 5 pages of the book to the teacher and then they take the book back and you have to answer the questions without going back to look at the book.  They would also have us use a program called “Read 180” it was such a fun way to help with comprehension.

 Honestly, my favorite way to practice my literacy was at home with my family. Although the school did have different programs and assessments, I felt like my home was a safe place for me to practice. As time went on, since I loved reading so much, my parents bought me Kindle Fire so I can read on there and expand my knowledge. I remember being about 10 years old reading psychology books so my interest in psychology started early on. In high school, I started having some issues when it came to literacy. I stopped reading as much I used to. When I would read articles in class, I would read them but not even comprehend what I just read. It became a problem that I struggled with, and I had to fix it as soon as possible. After a little time, I realized I read and comprehend extremely better when I whisper it to myself. Of course, I can’t do that every time I’m reading but now, I comprehend just fine. Thanks to the help of my parents, I still enjoy reading and like to challenge myself each time with a new book.