Every parent wants to give their child the best foundation for learning. But did you know that you can start preparing a child for reading long before they’re ready for school? Not to mention increase their speech and language development and social-emotional goals? And it’s as easy as cozying up with a book.
As a retired speech and language pathologist, a developer of materials for speech therapists and teachers, and a children’s book author, I have unique insight into how shared storybook reading can promote learning, literacy and communication skills in young children. It’s one of the most effective teaching tools for preparing little ones for formal reading.
Shared storybook reading is the term for interactions between an adult and child reading a book together. To a parent or caregiver, this might seem like a simple rite of childhood. But for children, this experience helps lay the foundation for long-term language and reading skills. What are the best practices for shared storybook reading? Here, we look at three important things to keep in mind.
1. Incorporate Reading Strategies
Try including these activities into your shared reading time with your child:
• Paired reading: Here, the adult reads part of a phrase, then the child takes a turn and “reads” another. Books need to be high in repetition and predictability for this strategy. Use pausing and inflection to cue the child that it is his or her turn.
• Questioning: Engage your child in the story by posing questions about the book as you read. Try asking, “How would you feel if…?” or “Who might…?” or “What do you think…?” Be willing to accept all answers and give praise for their response. Avoid asking scary and direct questions.
• Be interactive: Make story time an interactive experience by using puppets and allowing children to act out stories.
• Let them tell the story: Using wordless books encourages children to tell their own stories. You can even write and re-read their story back to them.
• Try different cues: Use print-referencing of verbal and non-verbal cues. For example, a verbal cue might be, “Look, Corky says, ‘Moo.’” A non-verbal cue might include pointing to and tracking print as one reads.
• Repetition: Read a story many times—as often as the child requests it.
• Be flexible: Let shared storybook reading be enjoyable for you both. Do not force a child to listen.
• Go beyond the book: Find coloring pages and activities related to the book. Many authors offer ones like you’ll find at SLP Storytellers, so check the author’s link.
2. Choose Quality Children’s Books
When selecting a good book for shared storybook reading, look for books with the following:
• Rhyming
• Repetitive dialogue
• Large print
• Print embedded in pictures
• Humorous and relevant to the child
• Bright colors
• Not too much text on page
• Stories that lend themselves to simple questions
Corky the Quirky Cow and the Cuckoo Concert, for example, includes the above criteria and offers accompanying activity books like a 140-page workbook, book for mazes, pre-reading and early reading, alphabetical animal coloring books and more. All can be downloaded here, saved and printed as often as needed.
3. Help to Develop Early Reading Skills
When reading to your child, guide them through the book to help them develop print awareness. Note things like: print goes left to right and top to bottom, the difference between the front and back of the book, and abstract terms that refer to reading, such as “write,” “spell,” “word,” etc.
Also, focus on phonological awareness or listening skills. Help them understand same and different sounds and words with varying syllables.
Make it fun—you can count or clap out the number of sounds or syllables, or words in a short sentence or phrase. (“Big, bad wolf” has three syllables, for instance). Note if the sounds in a word or words are the same or different (alliteration) or can blend. This speech sound awareness is a skill learned in kindergarten and later, however, you can engage your child in word sound play and rhyming activities from toddler age.
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