It's Not Just for Kids: Things I Have Learned at Story Time

I love story time.  Story time was one of the first activities I brought my girls to when I became a stay-at-home mom.  I have only had the opportunity to attend the story time at the Weyers Hilliard Library in Howard. But, there are many different story times offered throughout the Brown County Library System.

My daughter, Elsie, looks forward to story time every week.  The librarian incorporates songs, stories, acting activities, and sometimes puppets or felt board activities.  She has my four-year-old’s undivided attention for the full 30 minutes.  Elsie loves it; even my four-month-old smiles at the songs.  But they are not the only ones who have benefited from going to story time.  I feel like I have learned to read at story time.  You know, I mean, not actually read — but I have learned how to tell my daughters a story.  I have always done various voices or raised or lowered my volume for emphasis.  But story time has taught me there is so much more than just silly sounds…

The 5 things I have learned at story time:

Read the book before you read it to the kids

Obviously, the librarian has to read the book before deciding to read it to the kids.  I used to just pick books off the shelf and read them for the first time along with my daughter.  But, I have found that by reading the book ahead of time that I can ask her predictions about the story or build suspense by pausing or inflecting my voice.

It’s okay to skip words or add words

One of the really awesome things I have noticed about Ms. Sue is that she is okay with adding words or phrasing text differently for the kids. I have found this is especially important when there is a concept that may be difficult to understand or when I am losing my daughter’s attention, and I need to draw her back in.

Act it out/point it out

The librarian has a way about her storytelling that brings the story out to the audience.  I’ve found myself and my daughter looking at her instead of the book.  I have started acting out parts of books to my daughter just as Ms. Sue does.  It’s really just simple things, such as mimicking actions (such as “She placed the crown on her head,” and doing the movement on myself).  I’ve also found that pointing out the character who is talking helps my daughter connect the words to the character.

Plan activities around a book

The librarian has an art activity planned at the end of each story time.  I have taken this idea and applied it to our home life.  Oftentimes, this goes along with the season or upcoming holidays.  For example, we recently read a book about apples and decided to go apple picking shortly after that.  We have also done at-home “projects” that have been related to the books that we checked out from the library that week.

Talk about the author and illustrator

My daughter has started to get into certain authors and runs to that section of the library to pick a new book (particularly Mo Willems’ pigeon books and Bonny Becker’s bear books).  We have discussed why these books are similar since they are written by the same author.  We will also read the author’s biography when it is available in the book.  I recently learned that some books have the art medium described on the copyright page (e.g., illustrations done in watercolor).  I can see her pay a little closer attention to the details of the pictures after I tell her how they are created.

I am by no means a master storyteller.  However, I do think that I have been able to engage my four-year-old a bit more in our reading since we started going to story time. Where is your favorite story time in Green Bay or the Fox Valley?  I am looking forward to trying out some different locations to learn more tips for reading.

Original post by Nicki on 10/12/16