*This is a guest post by Melanie Milburn.
One of my favorite things to do is read to children. Books are a wonderful way to introduce children to new things. Books can spark a child’s imagination, they help children develop language, and expand their vocabularies.
When choosing stories for young children remember that shorter is better. Children tend to lose interest in stories that are too long because their attention span has not yet developed. Short fables, folktales and picture books are best for young children.
Young children also enjoy simple colorful illustrations. Illustrations that almost seem to jump off the page are best.
Children also love books that rhyme. Rhyming stories help children to develop language and pre-reading skills such as listening, focusing and anticipating the end of each stanza.
My preschool class really enjoys predictable stories. They feel a certain amount of power when they know or can easily guess what is going to happen next.
Acting out a story is always a hit. The children love to be involved. Stories such as ”The Mitten’, by Jan Brett is a perfect example. I made masks of all the animals in the story for the children to wear. I then used a large crocheted white blanket to use as the mitten. Each child, as the story progressed, would climb into the mitten until they were all squeezed tightly together laughing and giggling. They had such fun. They wanted to repeat it over, and over again.
With Valentine’s Day fast approaching a wonderful story to share with your children is my book “I Love You More Than Chocolate”. It is a simple, sweet story of a mother’s love for her children and chocolate. All children need to hear that they are loved and this book is written in a way that make it easy for them to understand. It full of lots of rhyming words and beautiful illustrations. The CD, which is included, allows the child to feel as if he/she is reading the book themselves. Encourage your child to make up their own, I Love You More Book, using things that are uniquely special to your child. It is a perfect way to end your Valentine’s Day with your child followed by of course, some sweet Valentine’s Day chocolate!
About the author: Melanie Milburn is Director of New Horizons Preschool in Durango, Colorado, where she has been teaching for 18 years. She has been writing songs for over 20 years and has produced two CDs for children. Melanie recently transformed one of her songs into a book titled, “I Love You More Than Chocolate”. The book comes with a CD of Melanie singing the book and children love being able to listen to the CD while turning the pages of the book. To learn more about Melanie and her book go to her website, www.melaniemilburn.com
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