At three- or four-years-old, it is pretty likely that your preschooler is not writing full length stories for you to proudly post on your refrigerator. It is, however, fairly safe to assume that your child tells you many, many stories throughout the day. For example, you may get to hear about their new, imaginary pet lion who needs some meat to eat. And, oh, by the way, her name is Lucy. Or you may learn about your child’s current fascination with becoming the world’s first, and likely only ever, knighted-farmer-superhero.
Although you certainly would not be able to write down each and every story your preschooler tells you during the day, taking the time to let her dictate a story while you type is something that is easily achievable once every week or two. Allowing your child to see the story being written as she tells it to you puts her directly in the author’s chair. She can also experience being the illustrator if you print out the story and encourage her to draw a picture.
My own four-year-old has become quite fascinated with the writing process and is gaining more understanding of how print works. In fact, as I was typing this article, he asked if he could write a story of his own. I hope you enjoy getting to know our cat in his story called ”Ray Ray”.
Ray Ray
By Elliot
Ray Ray is silly. He is black and white, and he has stripes. He has some gray too.
Ray Ray likes to play with water. It spills. He doesn’t like to play with his toys very much.
Ray Ray likes to fight with the dog. He gets nervous, and he tries to bite the dog.
I like Ray Ray because he is so soft, and he is nice to me.
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Written by Laura on November 9, 2011
Although taking time out of your busy day to sit down and watch an episode of “Dora the Explorer” may not be high on your priority list, you can bet that watching a favorite television program is somewhere near the top of your child’s “Favorite Things to Do” list. You can take advantage of this passion by using it to help your child develop pre-reading skills.
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Written by Laura on September 16, 2011
When children are in elementary school, it isn’t always easy to get them to write a story. You can’t just say to them, “Write me a story about anything you want.” They need more guidance and a place to start. Often, teachers will give students a “picture prompt” to get children’s minds going. The same can be done for preschool children in order to jump
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Written by BRWI Staff on August 9, 2011
My very first year of teaching, eleven years ago, I taught first grade. They were at an age where most of them were beginning to read, but they all still loved to be read to. I remember purchasing a boxed set of Junie B. Jones books, written by Barbara Park. I also remember starting to read a chapter or two each day to my students. I recall how much they snickered and laughed. Unfortunately,
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Written by Laura on March 4, 2011
When children enter elementary school, and teachers attempt to teach them about identifying the main idea of a story, kids will often try to summarize the entire story. The main idea and a summary are two different things. Instead of telling everything that happened, the main idea has two important elements.
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Written by BRWI Staff on February 2, 2011
A few months ago, my two boys and I read the story, “How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight.” My children immediately loved the story, and began asking for it to be read each night at bedtime, as well as several times throughout the day. Although I have to agree that the story is very enjoyable, after about the hundredth reading, it becomes a bit mundane. I was thankful to discover that the
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Written by Laura on November 24, 2010
Storytelling is an art that some people have mastered with their wonderful creative abilities. I, on the other hand, seem to be lacking in spur of the moment creativity, and find it difficult to procure a story on the spot. However, I recently discovered a great way to practice my storytelling while involving my preschooler in the process.
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Written by Laura on November 22, 2010
Most children love to listen to stories, especially when they are read by a loved one. In our family, my husband is the expert storyteller. Our boys get ecstatic when their father is being silly and changing words in a story they know well in order to make them correct his absurd errors. David also engages the boys by reading with wonderful expression. He can truly make a book come alive.
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Written by Laura on October 29, 2010
I can remember singing the little tune about the “Little Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly”. It was a very catchy tune and, as she swallowed more and more items, it became increasingly difficult, as well as a fun challenge, to try and say all of the items before running out of breath. It became a bit of a game in my elementary school classroom to have everyone sing the song together and
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Written by Laura on October 4, 2010
One of my favorite stories to read to my classes as a teacher is also one of my favorites to read with my own young children. As October draws near, and Halloween is just around the corner, the woods seem darker and simple things can seem scary. That is pretty much what happens in this wonderful story written my Linda Williams.
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Written by Laura on September 24, 2010
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