Story Time at AppleTree and Gilden Woods
Why is Story Time one of the most beneficial learning experiences for children? Because children have a natural tendency to organize their world through story and play! Story Time is a great way to encourage language, literacy, cognitive, and social-emotional growth.
We carefully select books tailored for each age group to send to our schools every other month along with sheets full of activities that go with each book. These activities provide a helpful roadmap for reading the books in a way that promotes language and literacy while engaging all the developmental domains.
Looking for some fun facts about language and literacy, or ideas about how to read with children at home? Check out our Story Time at Home Newsletter!
The Power of Reading
A Message From Johnna Weller, Chief Academic Officer
Of all the moments you share with your child each day, reading a story together is one of the most impactful to your child’s development. When you curl up together and open a new or favorite book, you are deepening critical social and emotional bonds with your child and creating a language-rich experience that fuels the developing brain. Why is reading aloud to your child so powerful?
- Stories help your child learn about themselves and others.
- Picture books are filled with rich vocabulary that develops your child’s oral language skills.
- Reading a book together helps your child with critical life skills, such as sustaining focus and attention, controlling impulses, and developing social skills like empathy.
Humans process and organize experience by thinking narratively, about who, what, where, and why things happen around them. Young children know this instinctively and are drawn to storytelling and books, wanting to hear them again and again. When you sit your child on your lap and point to the pictures, make animal sounds, or recite favorite phrases, you’re making connections that last a lifetime!
