How to Read Stories
In my previous blog entry I promised that I would dedicate this one to some examples of how, as parents, it is within our capability to read stories to children in more educational ways. I will give a simple, although straight forward example. In many children’s books designed for children aged 1-3, the story ends with the character going to sleep (this could be Mickey Mouse, Spot, Builder Bob, Bugs Bunny or any other character – it doesn’t really matter). I think that it makes a big educational difference for the child if the parent reads the story as written (“and the character went to sleep”) or if he includes his own content. In my opinion, this content inclusion is a vital part of the parenting job and is the room for the parent to use the fact that his child emulates the book’s character as an educational tool.
Some Sleepy Examples
Here are some examples of what can be read into a lovable character going to sleep. The precise choice depends on exactly what the goals and objectives of the parent are at the time. A while back, we had been working on stressing the importance of cleaning up all the toys prior to going to sleep. The story line thus read: “…and the character a cleaned up his toys, took a bath, brushed his teeth and went sleep”. I can tell you that several nights of such reading left their mark and straightening up the room became an important part of our sleep ritual. Another important thing that we have been working on with our toddler now is the concept of praying before going to sleep. The story line was thus appropriately extended to: “…brushed his teeth, said his prayers and went to sleep”. These innovations are excellent and easy to implement in the various toddler books. As the tales become more complex, this becomes increasingly more difficult.
