What to do with this activity?
See American actor Reid Scott reading a story called "Sylvester and the Magic Pebble". It is about a young donkey who finds a magic pebble that can make all his wishes come true. The lesson of the story is to be very careful what you wish for!
This would make a good bedtime story for your little one. If you can, make this an active experience by sitting with your child while the story is being read. You can pause the video to talk every now and then. Ask what they think might happen next. See what the characters might be feeling. If you can buy or borrow the book even better.
There are more book videos on Storyline Online here.
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Why am I doing this?
Reading aloud combines the benefits of talking, listening and storytelling within a single activity and helps to build the foundation for language development. From stories your child learns many things such as how to listen and concentrate, new words and understand why things happen. They also learn to put ideas in order, develop their memory skills, notice how spoken words relate to words on the page and learn how to predict. Reading gives your child a chance to develop their own opinions, build visual skills and learn how to handle books.
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How can I do more?
If you can spare 10 minutes a day to read with your child you can make a huge difference to their development. You don’t have to read a book, you could read a comic, magazine article or a story you have made up yourself. The most important thing is that you enjoy it, that way your child will too.
Remember a good storybook is one that you the reader and your child find interesting. It might be funny or entertaining. Ask yourself whether your child would enjoy it and be able to listen to it. Are the pictures well drawn? Is it well written? Do you like it? You may be the one reading it, over and over, and over!
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