Creative Story Time
Children love Story Time because story and play are the ways they make sense of the world. But did you know that Story Time promotes language and literacy skills and strengthens cognitive and social-emotional skills, too?
In the interest of encouraging development in these areas, as well as the different developmental domains, our schools receive new books every other month that are individually selected for each age group. They also receive classroom activity sheets that promote the most impactful way of interacting with the books.
Also, our Story Time at Home Newsletter keeps you in the loop with ideas for reading at home, and fun facts about language and literacy development!
The Power of Reading
A Message From Johnna Weller, Chief Academic Officer
Of all the moments you share with your child each day, reading a story together is one of the most impactful to your child’s development. When you curl up together and open a new or favorite book, you are deepening critical social and emotional bonds with your child and creating a language-rich experience that fuels the developing brain. Why is reading aloud to your child so powerful?
- Stories help your child learn about themselves and others.
- Picture books are filled with rich vocabulary that develops your child’s oral language skills.
- Reading a book together helps your child with critical life skills, such as sustaining focus and attention, controlling impulses, and developing social skills like empathy.
Humans process and organize experience by thinking narratively, about who, what, where, and why things happen around them. Young children know this instinctively and are drawn to storytelling and books, wanting to hear them again and again. When you sit your child on your lap and point to the pictures, make animal sounds, or recite favorite phrases, you’re making connections that last a lifetime!
