The Secret Skill Behind Storytelling

Everybody has seen the chatterbox kid.

By age three or four, this kid is telling full-blown narratives: recounting what happened in a favorite Disney movie, or giving a blow-by-blow playback of lego building. The kid pauses for a good two minutes, and then launches into another winding explanation.

He or she is not quite old enough to realize that the adult may only be half listening.

But how do these kids do it? How do they go from those phrases and half sentences to these full-blown stories?

THE ANSWER : PART ONE

We're not really sure. Some of the kids have chatterbox parents. But some chatty kids also have very quiet parents.

Fine.

But is there anything you as a parent can do to help your child along to the hall of chatterboxes?

Thankfully, there's a more definitive answer to that one.

THE ANSWER : PART TWO

One thing that really unlocks a child’s inner storyteller is sequencing.

That is, tying together sentences and events with events like FIRST, THEN, and LAST.

The beauty of sequencing is that it can be used anywhere, and to describe

anything.

For example, are you playing Play – Doh? “First we take it out. Then we roll it. Then we press it.”

Are you putting a child to sleep? “First we brush our teeth. Then we put on jammies. Last we read a bedtime story.”

Are you eating food? “First we eat soup. Then we eat bread. Last we eat dessert.”

It’s showing your child that processes can be broken down into steps, and that these steps can be talked about.

RESEARCH : THE IMPORTANCE OF SEQUENCING

When sequencing, we are identifying a beginning, middle, and an end – which helps lay a foundation for reading comprehension later on.

It is also an important executive functioning skill. Sequencing is how many kids (and adults) make sense of the world around them, and give it a sense of order and calm.

And of course, it helps make our utterances longer.

HOW TO “TEACH” SEQUENCING

There are hundreds of opportunities in a day to teach sequencing. You can just be narrating what you are doing in the kitchen, and you can find as few or as many steps as you would like.

But in order to get a child to start internalizing what you aresaying (and start saying it back!) you can do the following -

1. Know how many steps are appropriate.

You can correspond the number of steps with the child’s age.

1 step with 1 word for 1 year olds (eg “close”).

2 steps with 2 words each step for two year olds (eg. - “First open then close).

3 steps with 3 words for 3 year olds (eg. – First we open, then we look, last we close).

And 4 steps with 4 words for 4 year olds (“First we say hi, then we hug him, then we pay him, and last we say bye”).

2. Repeat, repeat repeat.

When you teach, go by the rule of three. Sequence – and then repeat your sequence a couple of times for good luck. If you’re playing with play-doh, for example, you can say…

For blue play doh… “First we take it out. Then we roll. Then we push.”

Then we repeat for purple, and for green, too. Say the exact same thing. It’s subtle brainwash. (The SLP term is “bombardment.) And it works.

3. Use fill-in phrases.

Give your child the transition words… and wait to see if they will fill in.

For example, after having bombarded the play-doh steps several times, say…

“First….” Then wait.

If your child doesn’t fill in after 5 -10 seconds, then you can chime in and model / repeat again.

4. Use to summarize books.

Since sequencing has such an impact on comprehension, try to use it at the end of a storybook. Finish the book. Then, before you put the book away, ask your child what just happened.

“First….” Wait. If there is no answer, fill in.

So there you have it. A very simple tip to getting your child talking more, and with more complexity.

Happy Storytelling!

Disclaimer : Smarter Speech is a pediatric speech therapy / speech-language pathology practice for toddlers and children providing in-home and teletherapy services in and around Mountain View, CA and Los Gatos, CA. Smarter Speech Blog aims to provide free speech and language tips for parents educators and therapists. However, this post is not providing speech-language pathology services. This is general information, not speech -language pathology or speech therapy. This article does not assume or create a client – SLP relationship. The author is not liable for any losses or damages due to actions or failure to act based on the content in this article. If you need assistance with a child’s speech or language needs, please contact a speech-language pathologist in your area.