Things You Can Do to Enhance Storytime

Are you all on Pinterest? You should be! It is an amazing resource for everyone, but especially educators and librarians (and parents).

You can follow me here.

I really want to share a blog post I stumbled upon thanks to Pinterest.

Seven Things You Should Be Doing as You're Reading to Your Child is an excellent post discussing various things you should be doing during your daily story time. If you aren't currently reading to your children daily, I really recommend it.

You can read about some of the benefits here.

Back to things we should all be doing. This list is insanely simple, yet has a huge impact on children. It isn't enough to simply read the words. Children need to feel engaged.

The first suggestion is simple enough, but I admit something I often skip when reading to my almost two year old. Read the title of the book, the author's name and illustrator's name. And then take the time to explain what it means to be an author and illustrator. After you finish your story, you could even take reading a step further and ask your child (or classroom) to write AND illustrate their own story. Reading is great for imagination.

Next you should ask your child to make predictions at various points in the book. (It is important to explain there are no wrong answers here!)

Then you can ask your child to explain what is happening in the pictures. You certainly don't want to ask about every photo or story time might become a bit disruptive, but children enjoy the opportunity to explain what they think is happening in the illustrations.

Move your finger as you read. This may help your young child better understand you are reading words on the page, not creating your own story.

Ask questions. This will vary with age as to when you ask questions and how often. If asking questions during the story disrupts the flow (such as in a classroom setting) I would suggest allotting a certain amount of time after the story for discussion.

This one will sound all too familiar to parents and educators. Read the SAME book over and over and over! I can't count the number of books I can read without looking at the pages. Sure there are benefits for children when we read the same book multiple times, but what about us? I'd like to think we benefit as well. As a mom I use this superpower to settle my toddler when our nightly edition of story time is over and it is time for lights out. I "read" books to him that I have memorized and he settles right down.  I believe the more you read a book, the more comfortable you become with reading it. You develop a style and it becomes almost theatrical for young children to listen as you read. This is a definite bonus for educators working with younger children.

And finally, you should really enjoy reading the book with your child. This is probably the easiest "rule". You wouldn't be in a career that required reading to children if you didn't love the child and the literature. And if you're a parent, I know you will love any book your child requests you read.

Check out I Can Teach My Child for other great educational ideas.