A sweet Halloween treat for young minds is reading books out loud to kids. When we read to children, we are helping the brain make all kinds of connections that will be used for learning. There are wonderful Halloween stories just right for sharing this time of year.
In Bats At The Library by Brian Lies, the bats have a problem: they are bored. The solution is just a swoop away because someone has left a window open at the library and the bats fly right in. What do you think they do? The story is written with rhyming words which is another great learning strategy and has detailed illustrations.
Libraries aren’t the only place for Halloween books. Bookstores have other amazing ones, so do second-hand shops and even dollar stores. There are some on YouTube, including several versions of this book. In this video, even a dog listens to the story.
Learning language is a huge challenge and children’s brains need massive amounts of language stimulation. Not only do kids increase the size of their vocabulary, but reading just a few books several times a week will add up to a library by the time kids get to school! Listening and watching skills are also strengthened and practiced as we share books with kids.
The words bat, cat, mat, rat, sat, and hat sound almost the same, except for one tiny little difference. As children learn language, they figure out that words are made up of different sounds. (This is called phonological awareness.) The word bat has 3 sounds: the “buh” and the “aaa” and the “tuh”. Stories that have words that rhyme help tune the ear to listen to these little pieces of sound. Generally, kids can rhyme words about the age of 4.
Sometimes, as parents and caregivers, we read favorite stories over and over so often that it drives us batty! What stories will you and your child read this Halloween?