Do you plan to teach your kids English in your free time? Check out the top benefits of English storybooks for children, as this might help you out.
Teaching English to kids is more complicated than you think. To a non-native adult speaker, learning the English language could be complex and confusing. How much more when you teach it to the kids? Yes, learning online can be an alternative, but sometimes, it’s also challenging to keep their focus. So, what do you do?
Read on and find out how English storybooks can help your kids learn the basics about the language in a fun and interactive way.
Introducing the Top Benefits of English Storybooks for Children
Sometimes, kids need a little reminder — with all the rising distractions today during the pandemic. It could be challenging for your child to focus on learning. Language, by nature, is very abstract and intangible. Children, on the other hand, are very literal and concrete. But, with the situation right now, a face-to-face class is impossible. With limited help from a physical teacher, it could be quite challenging to teach children the English language. So, how do you ensure that your kids keep on learning?
It’s already given, children get easily distracted when they are at home. An online teacher is an option, but a child’s attention span is far too short for them to focus that long. As parents, you want the best for your child. But how would they listen? It’s easy. Make learning fun. And here’s where storybooks come into the light.
Storybooks present themselves as an ideal resource for helping children learn English. It’s because children love listening to stories. Teaching English to a child using storybooks helps them understand creative ideas that are fresh and interesting from them. With pictures, letter sounds, and songs, they see learning as an easy and enjoyable activity. These eye-catchy visuals serve as an excellent way to introduce non-native children to the fundamentals of the English language. Aside from learning something about the universal language, the children can also develop their visual literacy and art appreciation.
English storybooks help teachers meet various learning needs and demands.
Teaching English worldwide to the younger generations from one country to another means diverse learning needs and varying English levels. Storybooks help teachers meet these various needs, as all children can understand the overall meaning of a story with the teacher’s storytelling techniques and the beautiful illustrations.
Furthermore, storybooks complement English language courses, or oftentimes, they are used as the primary teaching resource. They serve as the beginning point for a wide variety of activities that aim to develop children’s English language skills. Moreover, they bring other areas of the studies to life through the book’s theme or content.
English storybooks are also designed to exercise the children’s imaginations and to address different interests and learning styles. Storytelling is shared through social experience, thus alleviating a child’s emotional development in the process. Another significant benefit is that storybooks encourage children to enjoy language learning and promote their appreciation of literature.
Young ESL learners can take advantage of English storybooks anytime and anywhere they are.
ESL is a common abbreviation used in schools that stands for “English as a Second Language.” The term describes the programs that educate students who are not native English speakers. The key to successful storytelling is choosing a proper context that meets the children’s cognitive ability. Although kids have limited knowledge of the second language, they still have ideas, concepts, and aspirations relevant to their developmental age. Teachers and parents need to be aware of their standards to choose storybooks, such as level, subject matter, and motivation.
One example of a good storybook is “Green Eggs and Ham” by Dr. Seuss. Written for beginner native speakers, the story is ideal for ESL learners, too. With common nouns and memorable rhyming “Do you like green eggs and ham? Says Sam-I-am? In a house or with a mouse? In a boat or with a goat? On a train or in a tree,” the story is great for vocabulary, and it’s a fun story to read as well.
Here are some tips you can try to rip the top benefits of English storybooks for children.
1. Give the kids something they can look forward to at the end of every storytelling session.
Once you’ve picked a storybook, you need to analyze its potential. It would help if you also prepared a sequence of tasks. It’s important to tell children at the start of the lesson what the desired outcome is. Setting goals gives children a purpose for their work and keeps them motivated throughout the learning session.
2. Read the story aloud to the kids and encourage them to do the same.
Children are not passive learners of the language. Instead, they construct and reconstruct their language in the process of learning. Research has shown that children play an active role in their language acquisition by creating their language. They develop this skill through their activities. By engaging in various activities while listening to the story, they can develop their cognitive processes, including language development.
According to several studies, reading stories aloud is viewed as the most consistent activity used by teachers and parents worldwide. Teachers also guide their students using various open-ended questions to catch the children’s comprehension of the story. Besides allowing the children to draw conclusions and make their imagination of the story, reading the story aloud lets everyone participate. You get the children to discuss the story through their own experiences.
Thus, teachers should resort to teaching methods that actively involve their students and provide challenging activities during read-aloud, which can enhance the kids’ natural hunger for learning.
However, keep in mind that reading a storybook aloud requires preparation. You don’t just suddenly read it aloud. You have to familiarize yourself with the book to be able to explain the illustrations and the story. Furthermore, you have to read the storybook with different techniques such as reading it with feelings, using actions, being playful, or even role-playing.
3. Don’t hesitate to read the storybooks all over again.
Children like listening to stories over and over again. Repetition allows them to acquire certain language items and reinforce the learning unconsciously. Every time you read the story, you can incorporate new vocabulary or context, making them believe that there is always something new to discover.
Key Takeaways
Reading does not only happen in school –it could be anytime, anywhere! Learning doesn’t stop in a four-corner room. So even with this pandemic, you can still put an effort to teach your child the English language. Just be patient, use English storybooks, and make the learning session fun and memorable!