story. Young children look for ways they can be involved, and storytelling is a great time to give your child the chance to practice their voice, problem solving, and reasoning abilities. For younger children, asking simple questions can easily engage them in the story. For example, you might try: • Prompting your child by asking a question. For example, “What does Brown Bear see?” • When your child answers, “He sees a cat”, you can then expand by saying something such as: “What color is the cat?” or “What is the cat doing?” • Your child may respond by saying, “It’s purple. It’s licking its hand/paw.” • Repeating the process aloud to your child, “You’re right, Brown Bear sees a cat. It is purple and licking it’s licking its paw,” encourages your child to be part of the storytelling process by inviting opportunities to talk about what they see. As children grow, parents can encourage participation in storytelling by: • Completing familiar sentences by filling in blanks such as, “I do not like green eggs and ham, I do not like them ______.” • Being asked to remember something that happened earlier in the story like, “Do you remember where Kama and Nani got the mangoes from?” • Asking open-ended questions including questions that can’t be answered with a simple yes or no response such as, “Why do you think the caterpillar was so hungry?” • Incorporating Wh-questions such as who, what, where, when, or why questions about the book or story such as, “Who do you think is knocking on the door?” • Distancing provides an opportunity and child relationship, as well as increasing your child’s sense of connection and emotional well-being. Stories As A Learning Tool Using a book to read a story is just the beginning. Building on a story through Story Expansion by making real life connections to characters, places, and morals builds interactions and memories, taking storytelling to the next level. Have you ever read or made up a story about a sea creature or going to the beach? Go on an outdoor adventure to walk on the sand, splash in the water at the beach, visit the aquarium, or spend time observing fish tanks at your local pet store. Finding ways to connect with a story through activities, excursions, crafts, and meals can excite children and create meaning between what they read and hear to positive experiences they have at home and with family. Dialogic Reading is an interactive parent-led method to encourage conversation with a child during a read aloud of a 122 HAWAII PARENT May/June 2024 Join our Keiki Story Time with Jasmine popups at local public libraries across Oahu! “Often, spending these close interactions together becomes a time your child looks forward to having with you.”
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