Saturday, October 25, 2008

Nostaligic Saturday - School Days

My first school readers that I remember were the Dick and Dora series. And we can't forget the all important of Nip (the dog) and Fluff (the cat). They ran a lot. They jumped a lot. They saw a lot. They opened up the world of word to me.

I know the modern readers are a lot more entertaining and educational. They even have real color photos but I still yearn for the simplicity of life that included Dick and Dora and their little adventures.

From Dick and Dora, it wasn't long before I started on the SRA lab. Oh, I loved those cards and I whizzed through them as quickly as I could. I sucked up all of the facts they taught me. I relished the fictional stories. I am sure I was the first to finish the box (although my memory may be putting a golden glow on that specific aspect of my life).

Every now and then something wil happen in my world and I will remember I got my initial knowledge of the subject from SRA. I wonder if all of my old favorites are available in today's boxes?

I love my books and still voraciously read as many as I can but I have never forgotten the joy of learning to read, of realizing there was a whole world of entertainment and information that was opening up to me - and to grab it all I had to do was to open the book and turn the squiggles into words.

1 comment:

pita-woman said...

Oh Pearl! What a fabulous trip down memory lane! This blog could've been written by ME!
Although I don't remember Dora, just Dick & Jane and Spot the dog.
Funny you should mention the SRA labs, I was just thinking about those recently... I wonder if they still use those in schools nowadays?
If I had to pin-point when I started to love reading, it was when my 3rd grade teacher would read to us each day after lunch-recess. Sometimes if she was busy, she'd call me up to read to the class in her place (yes, I was teacher's pet). The first book I remember her reading to us was "The Resident Witch", I think that book started it all for me...
Fabulous post!!!!!!!!!!!!