Cake Mix or Soap Powder

We are the only species that uses written language. We’ve done it for thousands of years before we had books, paper, or pencils. Ancient humans drew pictures on rock walls. Modern humans wrote stuff down.

Story-tellers told stories in villages. It was the ancient version of a night at the movies.

Some communities had a person who went from place to place, reading newspaper stories. People would gather in a hall to hear the latest news. Once reading became widespread, the newspaper travellers weren’t needed anymore.

Reading is one of our most essential skills. Think of the process involved. Your brain makes sense of strange squiggles. It turns them into something that tells a story, delivers a message, or informs.

Reading is all around us. Making sense of printed words is so essential that we’d be lost without it. Imagine shopping at the supermarket where the packages had no labels. Every box, packet, bottle, or jar was blank. Sure, you could shake a packet and get a feel for what was in it.

But how would you know if you bought a cake mix or soap powder? Does the clear glass bottle contain ketchup or red paint? Buy both and pour a little of each on your food. That’s an expensive way to eat.

I had kids in my classes read something for 20 minutes each day. Some loved it, some grumbled about it. But everyone got the idea that reading was essential.