Autodidacts/Self-Directed Education

[LaterBloomer]

While I like to think that I helped, I think that my niece learned to read on her own. On long trips, I'd get packages from the library with books on cassettes and the books. She'd be hooked up to the Walkman, and turn the pages at the "ding." When I passed signs, I'd point out ones that had letters from her name in it. Her father is an avid reader, her mother more of a magazine reader, and her grandmother and most aunts are reading addicts. In kindergarten, her teacher told her mother that my niece could read. My sister said, "yes, she knows 'exit,' and 'push..." The teacher stopped her and said, "No, she can READ." My sister asked her daughter why she never told my sister why my niece could read. The answer? "Because I thought you'd stop reading to me." My niece had a twin, and while she came from the same environment, she had to be taught how to read.

Things like readiness, willingness, aptitude, and interest come in to play when it comes to teaching yourself something. Some can do it on their own, some need assistance.