The first five years of a child’s life are rich with opportunities to incorporate literacy into everyday life and help with this critical period of brain development. Reading to children contributes to brain development by helping build the superhighway of neural pathways they will utilize for learning throughout their lives. Reading to children also helps develop early literacy skills, which lay the foundation for children to learn to read when they enter kindergarten. One of these early literacy skills, narrative skills, includes the ability to describe things, talk about events, and tell stories.
Developing narrative skills in the first five years of a child’s life helps them with reading comprehension, a critical skill once they start school. Adults can work on developing their child’s narrative skills from a very early age. With babies, this can be done by giving your baby time to babble to you. Ask your baby a question, then take the time to listen to their babble in response. For children who are a little older, ask them what they did that day. If they are in daycare or preschool, or after a visit to a friend or relative, prompt them with questions such as “What did you do first when you got there? What did you do next? What did you think of that?” Their brains are still developing, so be sure to give children plenty of time to think about the question and develop an answer, and be patient while they figure out the words they want to use.
Children often enjoy talking about stories that are read to them, offering a perfect opportunity to practice narrative skills. Take advantage of their natural interest by engaging them in a conversation after you read them a story. Ask them about something they remember from the story, the characters in the book, what happened in the story, and what their favorite part was.
Certain characteristics in children’s picture books can be particularly helpful in developing narrative skills. Wordless picture books, or picture books that have few words, allow the child to interpret the illustrations to tell the story. Stories that have a clear beginning, middle, and end lend themselves well to talking about what happened in the story.
Mr. Wuffles!, opens a new window by David Wiesner, is largely a wordless book, with the story conveyed through vibrant and detailed illustrations. The illustrations are close up and from the perspective of the animals in the story. By looking at the illustrations, the reader is able to follow the storyline and, if asked, will be able to tell another person what is happening in the story. Ask your child questions that cannot be answered by a simple “yes” or “no,” then take time to listen. Good questions to ask while reading Mr. Wuffles! are “What is happening here? Why did they do that? What do you think they are saying?”
Where's My Teddy?, opens a new window by Jez Alborough, is wonderful for practicing several early literacy skills. The rhyming words throughout help develop phonological awareness, the humor of the story makes it high on the scale for fun, which encourages print motivation. The humor and suspense of the story also makes it easy to remember, giving the child an opportunity to re-tell the story and practice narrative skills. Adults can help encourage the re-telling by asking the child, “What happened to Eddy’s teddy?” and “What did the bear do?”
If You Give a Mouse a Cookie,, opens a new window by Laura Numeroff, follows a sequence of events, another great story characteristic for practicing narrative skills. After reading through the story with your child, ask if they remember how the mouse first got a cookie. Then ask what the mouse did after he got a cookie. You can just keep going, asking what the mouse did next, and, if the child doesn’t remember, jump back into the book to jog their memory, then keep asking questions, such as “What did the mouse do after this? Why do you think he did that?” Books that have a sequence the child is familiar with and that can be recalled--getting dressed, going through the day, seasons of the year-- also lend themselves well to practicing narrative skills.
Other titles available at Central Rappahannock Regional Library that are great for practicing Narrative Skills with your child are:
Froggy Gets Dressed, opens a new window by Jonathan London
Good Night, Gorilla, opens a new window by Peggy Rathmann
Leaves, opens a new window by David Ezra Stein
Nest, opens a new window by Jorey Hurley
Rosie's Walk, opens a new window by Pat Hutchins
Sam & Dave Dig A Hole, opens a new window by Mac Barnett
The Very Hungry Caterpillar, opens a new window by Eric Carle
Darcie Caswell is Director of Youth Services at CRRL. This column originally appeared in The Free Lance-Star newspaper.
