Reading is a Life Skill
By Amy Erez, Former Staff Member
From the Fall 2001 Newsletter

At Diablo Valley School, we often speak of the importance of an educational environment where the value of learning is focused on learning life skills rather than an academic curriculum. Up until recently, I considered reading in the category of academics.

I would like to share my insight with you and hope that it will bring a greater understanding, as it did for me, about the value of the Sudbury philosophy in the education of our children.

I have watched my son learn how to read over the last year and a half. He began simply with making sounds and graduated into putting those sounds together, only to move rapidly on to reading multi-syllabic words that would be way beyond the vocabulary taught to his age group in traditional schools. Not only was I amazed at his ability to do this without any significant help from a reader,but I was also impressed with the comprehension that grew with the reading ability. At first, I would try to encourage him with praise or my desire to participate. Ooh, that’s really great! I would say. Or, Would you like to read me a story tonight? Both of these comments would either be ignored or responded to with a face of Leave me alone. Finally, I realized that he didn’t want or need my praise, and I left him to his own devices.

Some time later, he began to offer to read me materials without being solicited. Just yesterday he got into the car with me and said, Can I read you something about dinosaurs? Of course, I replied. He started reading aloud, full speed ahead, a long page of intricate information about dinosaurs. It was at that moment that I realized: the motivation for him to read to me was to share his great enthusiasm about dinosaurs and the exciting world that was available to him through the written word. He had achieved a place of confidence in his reading and wanted, not to show off his reading skill, but to share some interesting information with me! Now, I can hardly get him to stop; not only does he read voraciously to himself, but he wants to constantly read aloud to me to include me in the world he is discovering. It is a pure delight!

What I have come to realize is this: the skill he gained when learning to read is actually no different than any other life skill, like conversation, personal hygiene, how to solve a problem, or fix a meal. My emphasis on the reading itself was unnecessary. The fact that the world opens up to us when we learn to read is the important focus. In conclusion, reading is simply another life skill, no more or less valuable in daily life than all of the other skills necessary to lead a fulfilling and successful life.

Diablo Valley School admits students of any race, color, sex, sexual orientation, national or ethnic origin to all rights and privileges, programs and activities generally accorded or made available to students and staff at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, sex, sexual orientation, national or ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan program, and athletic and other school administered programs.

Our school has enrolled students from: Antioch, Berkeley, Clayton, Concord, Danville, El Cerrito, Lafayette, Livermore, Martinez, Oakland, Oakley, Pittsburg, Pleasant Hill, San Francisco, San Leandro, Vallejo, Walnut Creek and other communities in the Bay Area.