“ The wonderful thing about stories is that they marry ideas and feelings in a sequence of events.
Feelings of fear, anger, joy or jealousy are wrapped up in characters and beings that we can understand. We follow them on their journey through disasters and triumphs and we figure out who they…and ultimately who we are – nothing else does this! “
Michael Rosen, former children’s laureate
Probably the most important thing we can all do to support our children’s emerging literacy is to share stories and story books with them.
Stories help children to understand how things work.
Following the steps of a story helps children to understand how information is organized to make sense of the world.
A desire to know “what happens next” encourages the process of sequencing – another important part of learning to read.
Stories give children the opportunity to discover how characters feel and why, contributing greatly to their emotional development and empathy.
Stories often give valuable guidance by describing causes and effects, actions and consequences…if a character does something silly, something bad might happen.
Stories help to unlock a child’s Imagination!
Speaking with parents over the years, I’m aware that sometimes, adults can feel anxious about reading stories aloud to their child, thinking that it is a special skill that they have yet to acquire…What if I do it wrongly? What if I’m not a confident reader?
This can especially happen if sharing storybooks was not a feature of a parent’s own childhood experience.
A storybook is just a great play activity you can share with your child in your own way. You can read the story together if you like, or make up your own story using the pictures…or act the story out in the garden…it’s the focused, shared time together that your child will love!
Over the years, I have worked with many Writers, professional Storytellers, Book Bug and the wonderful Family Liaison Officer Maureen Black, when I’ve picked up some Top tips for storytelling which I hope you will find useful too!
Story telling top tips
- Turn off the TV and phones! Find a time when you can have a few quiet minutes together without distractions…
- Don’t just save books for bedtime – read in the bath, on a bus or even at the supermarket. Words are everywhere!
- Don’t panic if you don’t feel confident reading the story – tell it through looking at the pictures together.
- Start off with short stories and rhymes – as children grow older they’ll enjoy listening to and joining in with longer stories.
- Take your time: children need longer than adults to take in all the information.
- Look at the pictures together on every page…and talk about them.
- When young children find a story they like, they often want you to repeat it over and over. We know that connections between parts of the brain grow stronger with repetition. Repetition also helps children understand and remember language.
- Reading is for the whole family, so get everyone involved! Encourage others to read to your child – grandparents, babysitters, older brothers and sisters.
- Lead by example – you are the most important person in your child’s life, so show your child that you enjoy reading too…books, newspapers, magazines …have plenty of things to read about your house!
- Join the library – even babies can join! There are “Book Bug” sessions you can enjoy together. (and it doesn’t even matter if books are returned damaged – modern librarians understand!)
- Very small babies love stories too… if they are too young to understand the words they love hearing your voice and spending focused time with you.
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