It’s Never Too Late to Learn to Read
By Mark W.F. Condon, Unite for Literacy vice president
It’s never too late to learn to read. If you have a hard time believing that, I invite you to read this article by Donalyn Miller, an extraordinary middle school teacher known as “The Book Whisperer.” Miller understands children and childhood, academic standards, and the history and trajectory of education in the US, but what’s most compelling about Miller is her ability to teach anybody to love to read. The key? Helping children find plenty of books that resonate with them and will inspire each of them to pursue reading. Not surprising, there is much in her article for parents and teachers to appreciate, because learning to read is the crown jewel of education. Learning to love to read, however, is even more important as reading can be a joyful lifelong enterprise.
It doesn’t matter how old one is, or how many times a person has murmured to themselves that they’ll never learn to read. Absent serious neurological or physical maladies, or a learner’s belief that they are incapable of reading, everybody can learn to read, and they can learn at any age.
It doesn’t matter how many committed professionals or well-meaning family members have tried and failed to bring a person to literacy. Joyful, fulfilling reading can still be in that person’s future. That’s what’s so wonderful about independent reading and learning; it grows into eager anticipation of the next book, article, link, or letter. Indeed, the best time for a non-reader to learn to read is when they have a book or other reading material in their hands that they really want to read. That is when they’re ready.
Consider the story of 89-year-old World War II veteran Ed Bray who had earned two Purple Hearts and dozens of other war medals. Despite those honors, he was haunted by a secret he’d kept for eight decades. “The toughest thing that ever happened to me in my life is not being able to read. You ain’t ever lived hard till you go through what I’ve gone through.”
Ed was determined to change that, however. “I wanted to read one book. I don’t care if it’s about Mickey Mouse. I want to read one book before I die.” And with gentle coaching from a professor at a local university, after all those years of shame, Ed succeeded! His choice was a children’s book about George Washington. Ten years later, Ed was still inspiring folks to take up reading. If they are 3 or 30 or 93, children and adults can learn to read.
As Miller emphasizes, with a little help, any child or adult can find authors, genres, book series, and content choices that will light the fire that reading brings and that will continue to burn brightly throughout their lives.
These days there are literally hundreds of folks who are eager to step up and sit down with a new reader, to discuss with them the why and to show them the how to read: to help them read strange or difficult material, to answer questions, to offer insights, to support the baby steps, and to enjoy flashes of progress right alongside them. It’s joyfully satisfying for both participants.
Access to books is becoming more and more a reality for more and more people. Thanks to the Internet and mobile and digital networks, book availability is no longer the problem it once was. There are free books for all ages and reading abilities available in many languages. There are both print-based and digital libraries. There are bookstores, bookmobiles, newspapers, magazines, computers, and electronic reading tablets.
So, there’s no need for anyone to wonder if they’ll ever get another chance to learn to read. The happy truth is that the opportunities to learn to read are comprehensive and infinite. It’s just up to us readers to help ensure that non-readers and struggling readers and those who have all but given up learning to read are made aware of all the readily available book sources and human resources that await them, ready to spark the light of a lifelong reading fire.
Supporting a new reader is one of life’s greatest opportunities for personal or professional success. Before you know it, new readers will be finding their own books and joyfully reading them.