In the final days of my mother’s life, as she lay in hospice care, I found myself searching for words I could not bring myself to say. It felt neither culturally nor emotionally appropriate to acknowledge that she was leaving us. Instead, I spoke from a place of longing, for her and for all that she carried within her.
My mother was a scholar in the truest sense. She earned a PhD from a prestigious university and authored books, wrote articles, and delivered “lectures” on child psychology and family relations. Her life was devoted to understanding children, nurturing families, and advancing knowledge.
I remember sitting beside her, during those final days, and saying, almost instinctively, “I wish I could absorb allyour knowledge through osmosis.”
She turned to me and said, with such simplicity and clarity: “Anjum, all you have to do is read.”
Reading is not just a skill. It is a way to learn, to understand, to grow. The idea “All you have to do is read” is so simple yet so profound, and it has shaped my work in education.
At Self Development Preschool and Self Development Academy, we have created an environment where reading is not just taught, but truly experienced.
Each year, we host a ceremony called “Keys to the Enchanting World of Reading.” Our youngest learners, beginning at age four, stand before a room filled with parents, grandparents, and friends, and they read. They read with pride, with excitement, and sometimes with a little nervousness, but they read.
Students in kindergarten through second grade do the same, each reading a book appropriate to their level. At the end of the ceremony, every child receives the book they have read. Something they can take home and keep as part of their own collection.
We try to do two things. First, we want children to love reading. They learn sight words, letter sounds, and the beginnings of phonics. They read together in their classrooms, with their friends, guided by caring teachers. The stories stay with them because they do more than just read; they create, they build, and they make connections through hands-on projects. These experiences become memories.
Second, we want them to feel confident. When children stand in front of a supportive audience and read, something changes. They begin to see themselves as capable. They begin to find their voice.
Sometimes, we see the impact in the most unexpected ways. One of our four-year-old students, Mateo, was on a family trip to Alaska at an animal refuge when he spotted a black bear cub. Instead of reacting with hesitation, he began to recite a rhythmic phrase inspired by Brown Bear, Brown Bear. In that moment, the story had become part of him.
And that is what we hope to see.
Books open doors for children. They spark imagination, curiosity, and understanding. But a love of reading does not happen on its own. It grows in an environment where reading is shared, where it is joyful, and where children feel connected to what they are learning.
At Self Development Academy, we create an environment where children come to enjoy reading. They begin to see books not just as something to learn from, but something to look forward to, something that sparks their curiosity and imagination. We see every day that when children experience reading this way early on, it shapes how they think, how they learn, and how they begin to understand the world around them.
We see it in how they hold a book, in their excitement to read, and in the joy that comes with it.
And in those quiet, fulfilling moments, I return to a simple truth: All you have to do is read.
To learn more about Self Development Preschool, please contact (480) 396-3522. For the accelerated K-8 program, Self Development Academy, call Self Development Academy at (480) 641-2640.