Story Time Stars

November 4, 2019 Stephanie Class

Help your child build early literacy skills at our Carrico/Fort Thomas Branch’s Story Time Stars.

Story Time Stars

We sat down with Laura Stanfield, the children’s services librarian at our Carrico/Fort Thomas Branch, to learn how story times like Story Time Stars are beneficial.

What exactly are early literacy skills? Learning to read?

When we talk about early literacy, we don’t necessarily mean teaching children to read. Instead, we are referring to skills that help get children ready to learn to read. There are many skills that make learning to read easier by building a strong foundation. Our story times focus on five different ways to help develop early literacy skills.

What are the five ways?

We help develop early literacy skills through:

Playing
Reading
Singing
Talking
Writing

Can you tell us how you develop those skills through playing, reading and singing?

Play is serious business for kids. When kids play pretend, they are using one object to represent another. This is the same concept that they will need to understand that the letters a-p-p-l-e stand for an apple. Dramatic play helps develop narrative skills which help kids follow a story when they read on their own.

Books and libraries go together like peanut butter and jelly. Making reading an enjoyable experience helps kids want to learn to read. Making reading an interactive experience helps kids feel successful. Story times are an excellent way to have fun and interact with books.

Songs and rhymes are a staple of our story times. They are a great way to help kids hear small sounds that make up words. Being able to hear these individual sounds will help kids sound out words when they learn to read.

What about talking and writing?

Talking to your child builds vocabulary. The more words a child knows, the easier it is for them to read. We don’t just read a book at story time. We ask questions and guess what might happen next. We also have games and other activities that give you the opportunity to have a conversation with your child.

Writing, in this context, doesn’t mean writing letters or words. Instead, it means any activity that builds fine motor skills. Activities like coloring, doing a finger play to the Itsy Bitsy Spider and squishing hands in kinetic sand are all fantastic ways to work out finger muscles.

What story time can kids attend to start learning these skills?

Story Time Stars is every Tuesday at our Carrico/Fort Thomas Branch at 10 am. The story time offers books that appeal to all ages, and games and activities that can be adapted for younger or older children. One of my main goals is to make the story time fun and exciting for kids. The more fun they have, the more they will want to read.