Beyond the Book: The Secret to Building Confident Storytellers
If there is one piece of advice you’ve likely heard a thousand times as a parent, it’s this: read to your kids.
At Speechling, we absolutely love shared book reading. It is one of the best ways to build a child’s vocabulary and introduce them to new concepts. But what if we told you that going "off-script" during storytime provides a massive extra boost to your child's language development?
Research shows that to truly build a child's independent storytelling skills, we need to use those picture books as a springboard to share our own memories.
The Science of Elaborative Reminiscing
In 2022, a major study called Tender Shoots (Reese et al.) looked at how different reading styles impacted preschool-aged children.
The researchers found something fascinating: parents who practiced "elaborative reminiscing"– pausing a book to co-construct personal memories with their child – saw significant, lasting improvements in their child's ability to tell independent stories a full year later.
Basically, if the bear in your book loses his toy, you stop reading and say, "Oh no! Remember that time we lost your green bucket at the beach?" Building these memories together gives your child the exact structural building blocks they need to become confident storytellers (and eventually, writers!).
To show you how simple and effective this is, our team put together a quick three-part video series.
1. The Core Concept: Using Books as a Springboard
We all know reading is fantastic, but pausing the book to share a personal memory is the key to narrative building.
In our first video, Principal Speech Pathologist Amelia Fox breaks down the science behind the Tender Shoots research, and one of our wonderful therapists shows us how it’s done with a very memorable holiday story!
Try it at home: Next time you are reading a bedtime story, try to find one connection to your own family's life and take a quick detour to talk about it!
2. The Technique: How to Ask the Right Questions
How do you actually get a preschooler to tell a story without just getting a "yes" or "no" answer? It’s all about the questions you ask.
When you pause a book to talk about a personal memory, the trick is to use "WH- questions." Instead of saying, "Did you have fun at the park?", try asking, "What did those big dogs do at the park?" or "Where did we hide when it started raining?"
Watch as we explain the power of scaffolding, followed by a hilarious story about a very mischievous pet!
Try it at home: Ask your child a specific "Who" or "Where" question about a fun memory you share, and see how it helps them string their thoughts together.
3. The Secret Ingredient: Focus on Feelings
A story isn't really a story until someone feels something about it.
The researchers in the Tender Shoots study found that talking about emotions is a fantastic way to build complex language skills. When we talk about how an event made us feel, we naturally introduce a "problem" and a "resolution"—the core building blocks of a great narrative!
To prove it, Amelia is stepping in front of the camera to share her own childhood story, involving a very regrettable DIY haircut.
Try it at home: Share a "feelings" story with your child tonight. Talk about a time you were scared, surprised, or excited, and watch how it captures their attention!
Start Sharing Your Stories
You don't need a perfectly curated bookshelf to build your child's language skills. You just need your own memories, a little bit of imagination, and a willingness to go off-script. We'd love to hear what stories you and your little ones end up talking about!
References
Reese, E., Barrett-Young, A., Gilkison, L., et al. (2022). Tender Shoots: a parent book-reading and reminiscing program to enhance children’s oral narrative skills. Reading and Writing, 36, 541–564. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-022-10282-6