Early Literacy Skill Spotlight: Narrative Skills

We have reached the end of our recap of the six skills of early literacy and some tips that you can use to help your child build those skills, but by no means will this be the end of me sharing information! 😀

Last but certainly not least, I bring you narrative skills.  When talking about the six skills in storytime or with parents, I usually save this one for the end because I feel it encompasses everything and brings it all together.  Narrative skills will sometimes fall under the category of background knowledge.  A child's every day life experiences will help to shape literacy development.  They may recognize similar situations in books and be able to relate to the characters.  If they are familiar with something, it could help build their confidence which is so important when learning to read.  It really helps with print motivation.  This skill focuses on talking with your child, asking open ended questions, and encouraging them to talk about and describe things in their world.  It involves knowing that stories have a beginning, middle, and end.  It helps introduce the concept of problem solving and will allow them to develop comprehension skills.  Talking with your child is a wonderful opportunity to explore vocabulary.

Singing:
I always like to say that it seems like my 6 year old lives in a Disney musical because she is always singing.  Many times she is literally singing about the things that she is doing.  Take a page out of her book and do the same with your child.  She absolutely loves it!

Talking:
When you're in the car, talk about the things that you see in your community and encourage conversation with your child by asking those open ended questions.  For example, when passing the fire station, ask your child something like "what does a firefighter do when not putting out fires?"  This could develop into a whole story, and it all starts with a single question.

Reading:
As you read stories, talk about what happens at the beginning, middle, and end.  Introduce things such as plot, characters, and problem solving.  Introduce nonfiction books as well and talk about what you have learned together.

Writing:
Work together to make things of things that you will be doing that day.  As you write one list, allow them to "write" and make their own as well.  By writing things down in order you are also introducing sequencing, something that is a part of stories as well as future math homework!  This is a great 2 for 1 deal!

Playing:
Put on a puppet show.  If you don't have puppets at home, make puppets using brown paper lunch bags.  Encourage your child to imagine and tell the story.  Bonus points if you include props!