From Neighborhood Lit to College

I am in my sophomore year at college, and I just declared my major-- English Writing with a concentration in Non-Fiction. When I think of where my love for reading and writing came from, I can’t help but trace my roots back to Neighborhood Lit. 

My mom started Neighborhood Lit when I was around 3, so I pretty much grew up with it at my disposal. Throughout my childhood, I constantly attended classes and as I grew older I even helped out teaching at some of them. 

For me, most of the actual learning at Neighborhood Lit felt very unconscious, which is what I think made me love it the most, and what makes most kids love it. I remember my favorite game being Bucket Blast, where you run around trying to throw bean bags into the backpacked bucket everyone wore. At the end of each round, we would all read sentences depending on the bean bags we had. I don’t even think I realized that I was becoming a better reader, because it really was just fun. 

All of the exposure to reading different kinds of books, exploring different writing styles, and learning grammatical techniques made me fall in love with English at such a young age. My love only grew as I would help students at Neighborhood blend letters together to read words for the first time. 

Especially with the shift towards virtual learning, it’s important for kids to be more hands-on in their education. Getting creative with kids, teaching through games or enrolling them in Neighborhood Lit could help other kids like me fall in love with reading and writing!

Any questions?  Please email us at Janice@Neighborhoodlit.com.  Corinne Migliazza is a student at the University of Pittsburgh, an intern at Neighborhood Lit., and the daughter of Janice Migliazza, a Reading Specialist and owner of Neighborhood Lit, Route 34, Colts Neck.