The Magic in Words by Patty Blount

 For most Gen X kids like me, nursery school and Pre-K weren't a thing yet. Our first formal school experience was kindergarten. 

But informally, we learned from Mom. 

I have vivid memories of long walks in my stroller to the Queens Public Library and coming home with ANY book I wanted, which was magical on its own because I hadn't fully grasped the concept of 'borrowing' books yet. All I knew it was a huge departure from the usual "We'll see" whenever I asked to buy something. 

Spoiler Alert: "We'll see" was code for "No."

Coming home with our haul was the most exciting part. I wanted to climb up to the sofa and read all of them at the same time, but Mom said that was impossible, so I had to wait. 

Wait?! Who could possibly wait when there were all these adventures ready to be told? I loved those words. The look of them, the sound of them, the power of them. I should mention I was speech-delayed as a baby. I'm told I didn't speak in actual sentences until I was about 3. 

But I had to wait, because I couldn't read yet. It was the most frustrating experience, seeing words on a page but not understanding them. I was 4 years old and can still remember that frustration. I'd only just gotten the ability to speak words and I was hungry for more. 

"I wanna read, too," I told Mom. 

She tried to brush that off. "You will, someday." 

"No, now!"

She smiled and said "Okay."

I don't remember how long it took. I have scattered memories of her using index cards to make alphabet flashcards for me but instead of saying the letters, I had to say their sounds. She used different colors for the letters that make more than one sound like the vowels and letters like C, G, or Y. I remember a new set of cards she created for the blends like CH, SH, etc. 

And I have very strong memories of her reminding me over and over to "Sound it out." 

My name confused me. PATRICIA did not sound like how it's spelled at all. It has no SH in it but that's how it's said. She laughed and made more cards for words like THROUGH, THOUGH, THOUGHT and said there are lots of words that don't sound like they should and I just had to memorize them. 

One day, I was sitting with a library book by myself and suddenly, the words sort of snapped into place and made sense. I was reading!! She didn't believe it at first. She thought I'd memorized the stories. So I read all the words from the newspaper I could sound out. 

It was a big deal and remains one of my proudest moments. By the time kindergarten started, I was reading books alone, and chapter novels by second grade. My mom unlocked a whole universe for me the day she said "Okay" and taught me to read.