Preschool Writing:

Switching Places

 

Today's Snack: Make a sandwich switch places! Put a piece of bread between two pieces of bologna, and then suck up milk through a straw from a bowl.

 

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Supplies:

 

Your child's favorite book

 

Even though parents joke about how "boring" it is to read the same book over and over to a young child, that repetition is doing great things cognitively for that future reader and writer. It is teaching them how stories work.

 

But for the grownup in the equation, repetition can get pretty old. To give yourself a break from the monotony - and to increase the brain-building power - switch places!

 

Your child knows the book well enough to pretend to be the author, and to "read" it to you.

 

You can ask questions, like a child, while your child acts like the authority. Start by asking about the cover of the book, and let your child discuss how the illustration on the cover gives the reader a peek about what's inside.

 

Staying within the role of the child, ask questions that rephrase what your child has just said. That rewards your child for taking risks in sharing information, and helps your child be a better listener, since he or she has to listen to your question in order to respond well.

 

Then let the child "read" you the story, mostly by turning the pages and telling you what's on each one. The child will no doubt cue off the illustrations, but that's fine. Many children memorize their favorite books, and you will be amazed asnd delighted to hear line after line, exactly right.

 

That's your reward for reading it to your child over and over and OVER. See? All that repetition might have seemed boring to you . . . but not to your child! Sometimes, you just have to switch places to learn things like that.