Storytelling is a fun activity, but did you know it’s also a crucial part of early childhood education as it plays a critical role in your child’s overall development? Read on to learn the importance and benefits of storytime and why we use it in our daycare!
Why is Storytelling so Important?
Sitting down and reading a telling a story is one of the oldest and purest forms of teaching. And not only is it a fun activity to do with your child, but it is also beneficial for various aspects of children’s cognitive growth and development. When you think of storytelling, your mind may immediately think of reading books, but that’s not the only form. There’s also:
- Nursery rhymes
- Songs
- Fables
- Personal (or a child’s) experiences
Whether you read to your child or choose a daycare program that emphasizes storytelling in its curriculum, your child will reap the many benefits that come from this activity! Let’s go over what they can gain from it.
Benefits of Storytelling Early Childhood Education
Improves Language Skills
Storytelling is a wonderful way to encourage your child’s language development skills. It’s a fun activity for your child to get accustomed to hearing different words, syllables, and sounds that they may not have heard yet in regular daily conversations. Whether it’s you or a teacher reading, your child will begin to understand the pronunciation of words and recognize how sentences should sound and be organized.
Storytelling can also help children learn how to express their emotions in a healthy way. By hearing stories about characters who are happy, sad, and angry, children can learn how to identify those feelings and use their new language skills to cope or ask for help.
Imparts Good Values and Virtues
Besides being entertaining, storytime can also impart good values and virtues on young minds. Many stories teach lessons about right and wrong, good and evil, as well as honesty, gratitude, and kindness. Stories can help children develop a sense of empathy for others, too. This can be hugely impactful because when you read stories that discuss these topics, you can impart these virtues that they can then carry with them as they grow up.
Boosts Memory
This is a particularly important benefit that occurs when reading stories to your child. When listening to a story, children will have to remember parts of the story: the plot, characters, and necessary details. To help them develop their memory skills, you can ask questions about the story. This encourages children to pay attention along the way and actively try to remember the storyline.
Helps Develop Listening Skills
It’s not a secret: children aren’t known for their listening skills. They interrupt often and have short attention spans. But that’s because it’s a skill they need to work on to improve it. Storytelling can help aid in developing and sharpening their listening skills. While being entertaining, storytelling helps to increase attention spans which can help them pay attention and keep their minds in one place during other activities as well.
Sparks Creativity and Imagination
Picture books are great ways to keep kids entertained and invested in storytime. But when we use storytime without the addition of illustrations or other visual aids, we can help foster imaginative thinking and creativity. Instead of an image or video doing the work for them, children are forced to imagine the character and setting themselves.
This can also become a fun activity when you task children to come up with their own endings to a story. Through this, you’re helping them exercise their minds and hone in their own storytelling skills.
Makes the Learning Process Easier
Storytelling tickles your child’s creative bone, all while making the learning process easier and more natural. All the previously mentioned skills naturally happen when a child is listening to someone tell a story. That’s why many early childhood education centers utilize storytime – it’s an amazing teacher! It’s the stepping stone for preparing them for school and achieving future academic success.
If you’re looking for a daycare or preschool that understands the benefits of storytelling and utilizes it in its curriculum, look no further than Giggle and Grow.
Let Us Help Your Child Grow
Storytelling is an incredibly useful tool in early childhood education and can open a world of possibilities for your child! If you’re looking for a daycare or preschool that understands the benefits of storytelling and utilizes it in its curriculum, look no further than Giggle and Grow.
At Giggle and Grow, we focus on the needs of very young children and will help your child grow with guidance and encouragement from our teachers. We love using storytelling in our classrooms, not only because it’s fun but because it can help to nurture and improve a variety of skills. We strive to make a positive difference in the life of every child by partnering with parents to provide an environment that is safe, nurturing, educational, and individualized. Let us help your child learn, play, and grow!
