Day 28 SoL Story Challenge: Bedtime Story

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Tonight, a quick post. Little L. tells a bedtime story to Baby J.

Day 25 SoL Story Challenge: Fairyland Part Two

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So… we almost didn't have a story from Little L for tonight. Between school and work, grocery shopping and dinner, and diaper changes and feedings, the day just sort of blew past us. All of a sudden it was bedtime and I hadn't even thought about what to write today, and I hadn't asked Little L for any ideas.

But then, at bedtime, when I least expected it, Little L. must have realized that she just might get to stay up a few minutes longer if she offered to tell a story. She was in her pajamas, and hadn't brushed her hair yet, but I couldn't resist saying yes to the offer of a story.

It's not the first time during this challenge that Little L has told a fairy story. Little L's love of all things fairy-related has inspired many stories, drawings, and dramatic performances in our house. Today's story was partly inspired by this library book, which she brought home from preschool last week:

The book was fresh on L's mind because today was supposed to be library day. Her whole class got bundled up in snow pants, boots, mittens, and hats, to trudge through the ice and snow to go next door to the library. (It's still very cold where we live in VT. The high was 17F today.) But when they got to the gate in the picket fence that separates the school playground from the library path, it was iced shut! The teachers kicked and scraped at the ice, but the restless three, four, and five year olds were ready to go back inside where it was warm. So, they turned around and made their way back through the ice-slicked playground to go back inside. The good news is, L got to keep her fairy book for another week!

Day 24 SoL Story Challenge: A Planned Story

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The four of us sat around the kitchen table for dinner. Little L sat in her "special chair," a chair that can be adjusted in height so that she can reach the table, and three month old Baby J sat in the highchair for the first time.

"So L, what should we write about tonight?" I asked. Little L has been helping me create my posts for this blog each day, mostly by telling stories that I videotape.

For a moment I wasn't sure if L would cooperate. More than once during the SOLSC I've had to do dome cajoling to get a story. 

"I want to tell you a story about a run-away, then find, then lost kind of a story." I knew what she meant. She had a plan for her story; it was just a bit jumbled.

I resisted the temptation to immediately correct her by restating  it. Instead I said, "Wait, I'm confused. It really happens in that order?" Little L just looked back at me blankly. It occurred to me that she perhaps had never heard that phrase: "in that order."

So I asked, "Does your story end with being lost?"

"No!" Little L laughed like that was just plain silly, to end a story that way. "It goes like...first there's getting hidden or running off, then there's being lost, then there's getting found." 

"Oh! That makes a lit more sense to me," I said, proud that she was able to revise her plan to have the sequence make more sense. "May I record your story now?"

"I want to tell it at bedtime," L said.

So later in the evening, after dinner and more storytelling, and cleaning up, and baths, and putting on pajamas, and brushing teeth, and bedtime stories, just before getting tucked in L asked if she could record her story.

Here it is, just as she had planned:

"Illustrated" by Little L. "Asked" by Little L.'s mommy.

Day 19 SoL Story Challenge: Emergent Reader

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One of the things that makes my heart melt is that Baby J. absolutely loves his big sister Little L. He turns his little head, searching for her when he hears her voice, and he gives her the biggest smiles and giggles. It's such a sweet thing, as a mom, to see how the two of them are becoming familiar to one another, little by little, becoming friends.

Tonight at bedtime Little L. had a great idea. She asked if I could videotape her reading a story for Baby J. so that he could watch it while she was at school tomorrow. "In case he was missing me," she said.

Baby J. is too young to watch videos, but I'm glad I have this video so that I can watch it... in case I'm the one missing her.


P.S. To find out more about how we've been supporting Little L with her reading at home, and to get ideas for supporting the emergent readers in your life at home or in the classroom, see this old post: Shared Reading With Your Tiny Reader.

Day 2 SoL Story Challenge: Mr. Grey Squirrel

We bought our first bird feeder at the town Harvest Festival last fall, just after we had moved into our new house. I remember feeling like we were really "here" when I hung the bird feeder from a branch of a tree in our back yard. "Here," as in Vermont, as opposed to Brooklyn, where we had previously lived, and had no back yard, and no need for a bird feeder.

Of course, hardly any birds eat from our bird feeder because the squirrels always get to it first. My mother just calls them "squirrel feeders" for that reason. That's okay. We enjoy the squirrels.

We think that there is one squirrel in particular who must live in the trees right behind our house. Of course, it's impossible to know for sure if it really is the same squirrel, but we like to think he's "our squirrel." L. calls him Mr. Grey Squirrel. We've seen him in all four seasons. We've watched him swing  bravely from the very highest branches. We've watched him boldly taunt our squirrel-killing terrier. We've watched him play and chase other squirrels. Once, as L. will tell you, we even saw a whole pack of squirrels. True story.

My co-slice-of-life-challenge-author, Little L., will tell you all about it here, at bed time, in her pajamas:

Shared Reading With Your Tiny Reader

In preschool and kindergarten classrooms, "shared reading" is a method that teachers often use to introduce young children to concepts about print and the beginning stages of reading on their own.

Essentially, shared reading is when you and a child (or group of children) read a book together.  The book is read over and over again so that the child becomes so familiar with the how the story goes that she can chime in and "read" along with you. (So make sure to pick really fun books!) Usually we use short, predictable texts so that it's easy for the child to learn how the words go, making it fun and enjoyable to read along with you, matching her voice to each word you point to.

Little L. and I have been doing a lot of shared reading lately, using short, easy, beginner reading books--the kind that you would see in almost any pre-k, kindergarten, or first grade classroom.

We love the Brand New Readers Series. I use these little books often in my work as a literacy consultant, and it's exciting to see how much Little L. loves them!

There are tons of different characters to choose from in this series. Here are a few of our favorite characters from Brand New Readers. There are numerous titles for each character, so you and your child get to read about Monkey, or Mouse, or Worm in many stories, not just one :

Shared reading involves lots of rereading, which is great because it allows you to focus on something different each time you read the book.  Usually the first time through, I read it just like I would read aloud any other book, only I do make sure to point to the words, and I use my voice to make the pattern stand out.

The second time through I continue to point to the words, and I also might let my voice trail off so that Little L. can fill in the missing words. She looks in the picture, and she knows how the pattern goes, so she's able to figure out the words I leave out. Substituting and filling in words that make sense is an important first phase in learning to read! 

I've been keeping L.'s shared reading books in a special bag on her bookshelf next to her bed. We read 2-3 of these before her regular bedtime stories, which are usually longer storybooks or a few chapters from a chapter book. She loves that she gets to have a few extra books before bed, and they're so short that it only extends bedtime by a few minutes. As we reread our books, over time, Little L. chimes in more and more, and eventually she points to the words and "reads" the whole thing herself!

Some parents will ask me, "But aren't they just memorizing it? That's not really reading is it?" Well, yes and no. When your child knows exactly how the book goes, he or she is able to put together many reading skills at once:  using the picture to figure out what's happening on that page, pointing to one word at a time, making sure to say words that match what's happening on the page, turning one page at a time, reading with expression… and much more. All of these skills can come together somewhat easily when your child knows the story, even when they might not be able to practice these skills at all on "cold read." 

For more on shared reading with young kids, I recommend the book Read It Again!: Revisiting Shared Reading by Brenda Parkes.

And if you're more of a researcher type, you should check out Don Holdaway's work (he's known to many as the guru of shared reading). Here's a link to a lovely youtube video that nicely summarizes some of his work.

Happy Shared Reading!

Little L. Reads Her First Books!

Check it out! Little L. read to us at bedtime tonight! Notice how she's using the picture to help her figure out what each page says, pointing under the words, and doing lots of stopping and thinking along the way. Our little reader!

Tips for Happy Bedtime Stories

Baby L loves her bedtime stories - but it wasn't always that way. From about 6 months old to 9 months old she went through a phase where she rolled around, pulled at my clothes, grabbed at anything nearby, and would just glance over her shoulder when I turned a page. Daddy B and I persisted though, and continued to read bedtime stories for every nap time and bedtime and our consistency, we think, has won her over! She's a huge fan of the bedtime story now! She snuggles in and helps turn pages, and points to parts of the picture, sometimes even "talking" about the pictures. When L talks, she gets the main sound of a word, like "tsss" for "necklace." If it's an animal she'll imitate the sound that it makes. Like "ack ack" for "duck/quack" or "ooo ooo" for owl (which she also says for "towel" - pretty cute).

Here are a few tips that my teacher and mommy friends have given me, to help out with bedtime stories. I've tested these out, and they work!

1. Find a quiet place. Turn off the radio, and the television. Close the door or do whatever you need to do to find a quiet spot to snuggle up and read a few books.

2. Be patient. Your child might not be a fan of bedtime stories tonight, but kids change quickly. Try to be consistent and read at least a few pages each night. You'll eventually establish a routine that will foster a love of books for the rest of your child's life!

3. Have fun! Use silly voices, gestures, tap the pictures with your fingers. Be goofy!

4. Try reading aloud books in themes. Reading books that connect by topic or by character is fun for kids. They love noticing when something is the same from one book to another. Baby L loves books that have animals in them. It's so exciting for her when we read her Baby Animals book and she has her Old MacDonald book with her that contains some of the same animals!

5. Act parts out. Baby L never gets tired of my sound effects and gestures for Goodnight Moon. We meow for the kittens, and pretend to put on mittens. We wave goodnight to each page, then wave goodnight to everything in her own bedroom.

6. Take turns with other grown-ups or read bedtime stories all together as a family, so it's not just mommy who reads.

7. Talk about books. Baby L often checks out books from the library that have beautiful pictures, but far too many words for us to get through in a bedtime read. So we talk about the book instead, by pointing to things in the pictures and naming them.

8. Try reading a favorite book many times so that it become familiar. Some babies like to have the same book each night because it becomes part of the routine, and routines help babies feel calm and safe. For a long time, Goodnight Moon was part of our routine, but recently Time for Bed has taken its place. Other babies enjoy more variety. Experiment to see what your child likes.

9. Spread out three or four books for your little one to choose from. Even the littlest babies will point to or pick up one book or another!

10. Respond to your child's cues. If she loves a particular book, read it again! If she's crying or upset, read as much as you can, but try again next time.

Good night everyone! Have fun reading!

Bedtime Routine

When Baby L was about twelve weeks old we started to have a routine at bedtime. We would start with a bath, then lots of singing along to her favorite music while L got her fresh diaper and jammy's on. And then, of course, we would have a bedtime story.

When L was a tiny baby she would lay peacefully next to me on the bed while I read to her. She'd pat the pages and coo happily.

When she was about six months old, she started to point to specific details in the pictures, and would turn to me and say, "Gaaa!" or "Ma-ma-ma!" She started turning the pages herself and screetched with delight when something was especially funny or surprising. At some point we started reading the same two book for every bedtime and nap time. Even now, it's always Goodnight Moon, or Mommy Hugs.

Now that she's nearly eleven months old, we still lie down on the bed together to read her bedtime story, but her favorite thing to do while I read is to roll around, crawl all over me, and get just plain silly. She occupies herself with giggling wildly as she pats my knee, or sucks on my elbow, or tugs on a blanket or piece of clothing. I read, and Baby L happily plays around me, looking over her shoulder each time I turn a page, or laughing when I drag her back over to me.

When the story is over, I always say "The End," and L reaches her arms out to be picked up. I hug her tight, and sing the ABC song a few times with the lights out before Baby L goes in her crib, and I go out the door.

Who knows what the next three to six months will bring. Baby L and I will have to check back in and share our new routine when Bedtime 4.0 arrives!

What's your bedtime routine? Has it changed over time? Leave a comment and share!

Books Can Be Like Like Old Friends

Caps for Sale, The Runaway Bunny, and Millions of Cats. Those are just a few of the zillions of favorite books I remember from my own childhood.

Maybe you've saved some of your books from when you were a kid. Maybe you've received a couple classic titles as gifts. Or maybe you went out in search of those old books on the web or in a vintage book store. It's always fun to revisit a book that you haven't seen in a long, long time. It's like reconnecting with an old friend.

Everybody has an old favorite or two. Click here to read about another mom who remembers her favorite books and reads them to her daughter: Bedtime for Frances--and Lil Bits, Too.

What are your old favorites? Post a comment and share the love!