Importance of Literacy Development in Education

Running Head: ENGLISH 1
literacy development
Author's Name
Institutional Affiliation
Introduction

EDUCATION 2
Literacy development does not have a precise time period or phase in one slice. It perhaps
starts when the baby utters the first worlds or the preschool child learns to hold the pencil for the
first time or the college student writes professional academic papers during his university years.
Today, we find ourselves surrounded by technologies and the art of reading and writing is
already disappearing. Kindle and tablets with keyboard have replaced the books, pens, and
pencils. One simply has to press delete to eraser something. One cannot place the whole blame
on technology as literacy holds an essential place in our life. In order to progress academically
and professionally, we do need to develop good reading and writing skills.
For me, good handwriting has always been an important skill, apart from reading and
writing to add to my knowledge. There are some experiences in the childhood that leave a
lifelong impact on our lives and stay with us like a good habit. Today, I am proud of my
handwriting and often get complimented by my peers and college professors. At home, my
mother still writes letters to her friends and family. I have grown up admiring her handwriting as
well as writing skills. I still carry a childhood memory regarding writing that is lodged in my
memory. When I was about ten years old, I was admitted to another school known for its better
learning environment. I was a bit afraid as I had heard that the principal was very strict.
Nevertheless, all my fears were baseless as I found the school to be nice and soon made some
good friends. I liked the teachers and the principal as strict, but somehow I liked her.
One fine day, the Principal announced a handwriting contest to be held every month as
she was not too pleased with what she saw in the class notebooks. We were given special
practice books for written exercises to improve our writing. Until then, I had always thought that
as long as the letters were legible, it really didn’t matter. We were given some cursive writing
books for English writing and were asked us to complete a certain number of pages every day.