Bringing Literature To Life For Your Preschooler

How to teach a story to your preschooler in five days:

Day 1: Read the story, show pictures, ask questions to assess and aid in comprehension.

 

Day 2: Assign child to create three specific age appropriate illustrations for the story. For example, in the story of The Three Bears, ask her to draw a picture of the three bears, a picture of Goldilocks eating porridge, and a picture of a bed. You can use various mediums for creating the illustrations, including stickers or coloring sheets for young children.

Retell the story to the child, using his or her illustrations as you go.



Day 3: Have the child narrate the story to you, and write it down. Bind the pictures from yesterday with the narrative to create a book (staples or a folder work just fine). Feel free to assist the child in remembering the plot, but allow the words to be direct from him or her.



Day 4: Create a song that tells the story. If you are having trouble, use a familiar tune, like “The Farmer In The Dell” or “Twinkle, Twinkle.” You can have multiple verses, and can write down the lyrics to help you remember.



Day 5: Provide the child with props, and allow him to act out the story in a play. If needed, you can read the child’s narrative or the story (or sing the song from yesterday) while he acts.