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Young children have short attention spans, often making it challenging for them to focus during storytime. To make reading together more enjoyable and memorable, here are some tips you could try:
1) Let your child select the book
Even the youngest of children have preferences in books. Children are more likely to want to sit through a story that is of interest to them.
2) Create a comfortable reading environment
Find a comfortable and quiet environment where you and your child can sit and read without distractions.
3) Bring the characters to life
Read with enthusiasm and expression by bringing the characters to life with different voices, facial expressions, and gestures. Don’t be shy, the more dramatic the better!
4) Read aloud together
Encourage your child to participate in the reading by asking them to read certain parts of the story. One way is to take turns reading a page each. Sharing the story in this way will help you discover new things about each other and elicit dialogue.
5) Make it interactive
Ask questions along the way to help promote speech development and comprehension. Point out words and illustrations that might be new to them and talk about how the words are used and what they mean.
Ask questions that evoke emotion and reflective inquiry, such as, “What would you do in this situation? Why do you think the character behaved in that way? Have you ever encountered a similar situation? Who does the character remind you of? How does the character feel?”.
6) Discuss the story
After reading, look for creative ways to extend the learning of the book. Discuss the story with your child, asking questions about the characters, plot and themes. Another way to do this would be doing crafts based on the illustrations or theme of the story, listening to music that is related to the story, or even writing a sequel to the story together. Get creative!