Narrative Skills (3/3)

This is the last posting in my "mini series" on narrative skills. For the past couple of days I have been giving suggestions on what parents and caregivers can do to help children develop narrative skills. Here is my last suggestion:

Talk with children

I know it seems simple, but as adults, we often take for granted the conversations we have with young children. By talking with your child, you are helping them develop the comprehension skills that will help them understand what they read. After all, isn't that what reading is all about - getting an understanding of what the author is saying. It's not just about pronouncing all the squiggles on the page properly.

As an example, think of yourself learning another language. If you don't know the word for something, it can make it really challenging to keep up with a conversation. You may find yourself pointing and using gestures the same way your child does. Also, as your child gets older, all this practice in talking will pay off. They will be great speakers (remember dreaded public speaking?), great readers, and generally more confident. With babies, sometimes you may feel weird doing all the talking because they aren't speaking back to you, but you are helping them understand the world around when you talk to them.

Here are some examples of when you can talk with your child during your day:

- when they wake up (good morning)
- getting dressed (first your head, then your arms)
- eating (Mmmm....is BLANK your favourite food?)
- on the change table (tell them what you're doing - you can even throw in a song or rhyme if your baby gets fussy)
- bath time (wash this arm first, then the other one...)
- at the grocery store (we need to get carrots, onion and chicken)
- Tell your children stories. Allow time for your children to reply.
- Encourage your children to tell you about things.
- Listen patiently and carefully as they talk. Ask questions.
- Ask your children to tell you about something that happened during the day.
- Talk about new words with your children.
- Let him tell you about a picture he drew.

Narrative Skills (2/3)

Yesterday, I gave one suggestion on what parents and caregivers can do to help children learn narrative skills. Here is another suggestion:

Repeat rhymes with your children to help them remember.
Talk about what’s happening with all rhymes, even the simplest ones. This gives children more words to know (vocabulary). Ask questions they can respond to, to further develop their narrative skills.


Here are some sunny summer rhymes you can teach your child today.

Circle of the Sun
Babies are born in the circle of the sun,
Circle of the Sun on the birthin' day.
Babies are born in the circle of the sun,
Circle of the sun on the birthin' day.

Clouds to the east, clouds to the west,
Wind and rain to the north and south;
Babies are born in the circle of the sun,
Circle of the sun on the birthin' day.


Oh, Mr. Sun
Oh, Mr. Sun, Sun, Mr. Golden Sun,
Please shine down on me.
Oh Mr. Sun, Sun, Mr. Golden Sun,
Hiding behind a tree.

These little children are asking you
To please come out so we can play with you.

Oh Mr. Sun, Sun, Mr. Golden Sun,
Please shine down on me.


If All the Sunbeams 
If all the sunbeams 
Were bubblegum and ice cream 
Oh, what a sun that would be!
 
Standing outside, with my mouth open wide 
Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah. 

If all the sunbeams 
Were bubblegum and ice cream 
Oh, what a sun that would be!


You are my Sunshine
You are my sunshine,
My only sunshine.
You make me happy
When skies are grey.
You'll never know, dear,
How much I love you.
Please don't take my sunshine away.


The Eensy Weensy Spider
The eensy weensy spider
Crawled up the water spout.
Down came the rain
And washed the spider out.
Out came the sun
And dried up all the rain.
So the eensy weensy spider
Crawled up the spout again.


Rain is Falling Down
Rain is falling down...SPLASH!
Rain is falling down...SPLASH!
Pitter, patter, Pitter, patter.
Rain is falling down...SPLASH!

Sun is peeking out, peek-a-boo!
Sun is peeking out, peek-a-boo!
Peeking here, peeking there,
Sun is peeking out, peek-a-boo!

NOTE: Perform this rhyme with your baby on your lap. Your child will enjoy watching your hands and listening to the words.

What the heck are narrative skills?

Yesterday I wrote about finger puppet pouches. I mentioned that they are great for building your child's narrative skills, but didn't elaborate. Well, narrative skills are one of the six essential skills children need before they can learn to read.

What are Narrative Skills?

Learning to tell a story helps children develop thinking and comprehension skills. Picture book sharing can play a huge role in a child’s ability to describe things and events and to tell stories. Reading storybooks helps children gain a sense of story structure: a beginning, a middle (or problem) and an end (or resolution). Narrative Skills involve the ability to describe things and events, and to tell stories. They help children understand what they read.


It's about…

- Retelling stories.
- Retelling events.
- Adding descriptions.
- Telling stories or events in sequence.


What can parents and caregivers do to help children learn narrative skills?

Read favourite books again and again.

Stories help children understand that things happen in order first, next, last. Being able to tell or retell a story help children understand what they read.

- Use props from around home to help your child remember and retell stories.
- Encourage your children to say repeated words along with you as you read.
- Have your child do actions as they repeat a phrase along with you as you read.
- Use fewer books and expand on the more.
- Use the dialogic reading. Click here or here for more information.

Why do we do a story retell? Click here.

What book does your child like to read again and again?