By Tweety Yates, Ph.D.
Did you know that social-emotional development and early literacy development occur on a parallel path within the context of positive relationships? Well, they do! When we begin to see the ways in which literacy and social-emotional skills are interwoven, we see the importance of intentionally finding ways to embed strategies that connect them. It is through those everyday interactions in safe and nurturing environments when adults share books, tell stories, sing songs, talk, and play with infants, toddlers, and preschoolers that our children thrive! And the earlier we start the better!
Books and storytelling can be the perfect tools to engage and excite children with stories that include social-emotional and literacy concepts. Developing a love of books at an early age is key to being a successful lifelong learner. The more books we read to children, the more they can feel competent and confident in developing and telling their own stories. Books can help them learn new vocabulary words, develop print awareness, have conversations about big feelings and how the characters deal with those feelings! We have learned that the real value is not simply in reading books to children, but in the quality of the read-aloud interactions (McGee & Schickedanz, 2007).
References
McGee, L. M., & Schickedanz, J. A. (2007). Repeated interactive read‐alouds in preschool and kindergarten. The Reading Teacher, 60(8), 742-751.
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