any advice greatly received regarding keeping children interested at story time

[mrs robbie williams]

Hi there - used to be a childminder and now work in a pre school (am loving it :) the only problem I have is story time - this is done by me once a week and is at the end of the three hour session usually for about 15 minutes before home time - I seem to struggle holding the childrens interests (age 2 and 3 normally about 12-15 children) - had a meeting yesterday with manager and we both rose this as an issue - they run around wont sit still etc she suggested that i research ways so i thought the best people to ask would be you lovely lot :)

[BallyH]

When I worked at a preschool we had this at this time of year as the children are young and still settling in from having started in September. I would introduce props. The props don't have to be specificially bought for the story. For example you should have a lot of resources available in a preschool setting so go around with a couple of bags/sacks and gather items to tell a story. When we done the 3 llittle pigs one pig was a soft cuddle pig the size of an adult man's foot and the smallest pig was as tiny as a baby's finger. I think this all adds to the drama of the story.

The first couple of times doing the story you propably won't even finish it as you will be spending the most amount of time 'discipling/talking/reminding' the group to stop and listen. Be firm and consistent. I would choose, say if you needed 4 children, 2 off the children who have been running around and two quiet children. During the story keep reminding the other children that only children who sit and listen will get choosen next week. Use lots of expressive talk during the story to make it really interesting and appealling and hopefully by about the 4/5th time it will run smoothly. You will have to make the storytime interesting. Maybe even introduce a spiderman wolf or a little peppa pig if it makes one child sit quietly hoping to be choosen next time. Best of luck. I love these times when it all comes together and it will be only wilth effort on your behalf.

[Simona]

Hi there - used to be a childminder and now work in a pre school (am loving it :) the only problem I have is story time - this is done by me once a week and is at the end of the three hour session usually for about 15 minutes before home time - I seem to struggle holding the childrens interests (age 2 and 3 normally about 12-15 children) - had a meeting yesterday with manager and we both rose this as an issue - they run around wont sit still etc she suggested that i research ways so i thought the best people to ask would be you lovely lot :)

I would recommend you ask the manager for the opportunity to discuss this at the next staff meeting and all staff contribute to a solution
This is what I would put to all staff

1. why the large group of mixed age? 12-15 children is a lot
2. could you have another member of staff supporting you and encourage the children to listen while you concentrate on the story
3. the age difference means the attention span varies a great deal
4. is the story suitable to such diverse age
5. could the group reading be moved to the middle of the session when the children may not be so tired

More than research it is a question of addressing the age and stage of the children involved and the manger has a duty to do that with the staff

Good luck and I hope you get listened to.

[mama2three]

A few things to try

carpet spots to sit on , they need to stay on their spot
fiddlescarves - im sure there is a proper name for them but basically tie scarves together - long enough to go round whole circle group - and maybe thread bangles or other fiddly bits on for them to hold during circle time
Start very quick and build up
Lots and lots of interaction during story - props , story boards , playtrays etc .
shake the sillies out before starting
praise praise praise for those who can sit
be realistic in expectations of the children
keep the more ''disruptive'' closer to you

Maybe you could ask for smaller group first and build up?

[hectors house]

This is something I think Sarah Neville posted about on here a while back about making children's stories a lot more interesting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEgREFpqFfA

We currently have this book from the library but I can't tell the story as brilliantly as Neil Griffiths does.

[mrs robbie williams]

Thanks guys ive been making notes from ur comments :) d day again tomorow - thoughts on choosing a child who has behaved well during the session to be allowed to choose the book and sit with me? And change child each week?

[mama2three]

Lovely idea , but knowing which story youre doing in advance and getting things together to support it is really valuable - rather than a child picking one from the shelf. '

[BallyH]

This is something I think Sarah Neville posted about on here a while back about making children's stories a lot more interesting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEgREFpqFfA

We currently have this book from the library but I can't tell the story as brilliantly as Neil Griffiths does.

Thank you for sharing this. I enjoyed watching it as much as my 3 lo's.

[Simona]

Thanks guys ive been making notes from ur comments :) d day again tomorow - thoughts on choosing a child who has behaved well during the session to be allowed to choose the book and sit with me? And change child each week?

So good it has helped and Neil Griffiths is amazing
We did a conference with him and I think the whole room was spellbound and he got many to participate!

My worry is the ratio...would it be the same if there was an inspector?

I have done stories in preschools but not to that ratio...12/15 children of mixed age is rather out of the recommended number...hope it goes well and let us know!

[BallyH]

The ratio is common and I'm assuming there is an equal amount in another room with another member of staff and the reemaining staff are running around like headless chickens tidying, cleaning and matching gloves, boots etc so as soon as the last child is collected they can run to the local schools to pick up their own kids up.

[mrs robbie williams]

Thank u all so much do have decided in my head for tomorow - hungry caterpillar book one child to help me read the story and will rotate this weekly will choose short books next time will be bear hunt x

[mrs robbie williams]

The ratio is common and I'm assuming there is an equal amount in another room with another member of staff and the reemaining staff are running around like headless chickens tidying, cleaning and matching gloves, boots etc so as soon as the last child is collected they can run to the local schools to pick up their own kids up. no other room pre school is in hall x

[blue bear]

I'm a bit shocked to be honest two year olds in a group of 15 being expected to sit and concentrate for 15 minutes and yet this is the norm? Poor little things. A child should be able to sit for double their age in minutes.
Does it have to be sitting and listening can you not do a short story and then singing exercises or other action activity.
When I was training as a nursery nurse the nursery nurse in the 3-5 year old nursery used to tell stories rather than use books and always had a prop, the story about a mouse in the dark was a favourite as she had a lit candle.

[Simona]

I am not so sure if the ratio is common...I would worry if it was.
The ratio for 2 year olds is 1:4

For 3 year olds is 1:8
If the staff has QTS that can be 1:13 for 3 year olds .....so in this case too many children

Yes at tidying up times all goes a bit out of the window but, should anything go wrong the staff in charge of so many children would be responsible
I have seen it often enough and raised as not acceptable.

I would never allow my staff at preschool to go over ratios although we do not know the premises in this instance and if any other staff is on hand....if the rest are all tidying up it could also be very noisy and disruptive?

Blue Bear is right...too long for 2 years olds to sit and listen....trying different approaches will help but never allow ratios to be muddled up because it is time to tidy up.....isn't that what the battle against higher ratios was all about?

[FloraDora]

So...firstly I would be looking at my big books so they all can see the pictures. The book content, length, your prep on reading it is really important!
Then choose a story that some children can interact with...holding animals: eg. brown bear brown bear what do I see? Stand in line in order of the story, repeat after you have read story with children. Goldilocks...act out ...sing song...going on a bear hunt.......lots of repetition for young children to join in with ....keeps them interested.
Short story then an activity together would be my way forward.... Lots of interactive talk before hand..about front cover...get their interest, have LO's that are notorious for wandering near you...give them a prop...

Books with props.....preparation beforehand....props: masks, stick puppets, material, musical instruments.....scarves....record yourself reading...are you interesting to LO's??.....great classic material....finish with an interactive game linked ( vaguely ) to story.....or a song, again linked to story...start with a familiar book.....insist on sitting if possible.....ask for another adult to support those LO's who can't sit ( or don't expect them too! ) ....or you could end with a game on the carpet ......
Twinkle have lots of puppets you can make into stick puppets for traditional stories.
It's not the size of group or age of children....it's the charismatic way you engage I am afraid .....with the right tools.
Hope my ideas...through experience...helps. ( once 40 years ago a tutor at uni asked me if I had ever listened to myself reading a story...following an observation of a story time....I was paranoid...taped myself, got the drama students to help me...it haunts me after all this time ....so my ideas come from actual experience of starting my teaching career as a boring story teller!!)
I think I'm ok now!

[Simona]

Fantastic ideas Flora Dora .....those are for 'carpet time' though would you not say?...I thought the aim was to do a story with a Group of children aged 2 and 3....maybe young 2 and older 3 and for 15 minutes?
I personally think That age and size of group matter greatly...Attention span and also catering for all needs

When I first started 20 years ago at my preschool I would hide rather than read a story...with time I learnt with huge amounts of support from the staff....as we all do and now story is my absolutely favourite activity...all the things you say about 'how' we read is important but I can visualise a lot of multitasking from the reader!

I don't think we can change child development and expectations of what these young children can do
Also very important to choose an age appropriate story or the young ones will not follow and the older children will get bored.
I am sure that Mrs R will be successful but a little help from other staff would be greatly appreciated
I sat in a reception class with 30 children sitting on the carpet and being read to....oh boy that was an experience!


Another good thing would be to use 'peer observations' ....as in the EEL project....watch other staff reading and evaluate what they do that is good and what needs tweaking...as the staff know the children best they will surely make this a success.
Interesting we covered this last night at #eytalking

[FloraDora]

Fantastic ideas Flora Dora .....those are for 'carpet time' though would you not say?...I thought the aim was to do a story with a Group of children aged 2 and 3....maybe young 2 and older 3 and for 15 minutes?
I personally think That age and size of group matter greatly...Attention span and also catering for all needs

When I first started 20 years ago at my preschool I would hide rather than read a story...with time I learnt with huge amounts of support from the staff....as we all do and now story is my absolutely favourite activity...all the things you say about 'how' we read is important but I can visualise a lot of multitasking from the reader!

I don't think we can change child development and expectations of what these young children can do
Also very important to choose an age appropriate story or the young ones will not follow and the older children will get bored.
I am sure that Mrs R will be successful but a little help from other staff would be greatly appreciated
I sat in a reception class with 30 children sitting on the carpet and being read to....oh boy that was an experience!


Another good thing would be to use 'peer observations' ....as in the EEL project....watch other staff reading and evaluate what they do that is good and what needs tweaking...as the staff know the children best they will surely make this a success.
Interesting we covered this last night at #eytalking

No, I don't know what 'carpet time' is really but I think my suggestions are for reading a story...bringing a story alive ....who says that reading a story has to be just...reading a story!! I won't go there on whether 2&3 year olds should be expected to listen to a story at the end of the day .....the objective was to read a story and keep the children interested enough ...not to walk off, not to make inappropriate noises, appear that they are listening I think.
Interacting with a story is prime at this age...to ensure that the last 3 useless objectives are not the real ones! Go back to why you are reading a story...apart from being on an ill planned timetable? To encourage children to engage with stories and books, to listen with enthusiasm, having a purpose for listening, enjoy,remember, join in with repeated phrases.....to name a few...so I firmly believe in bringing stories alive...if that takes props, instruments scarves etc...then do it. It's called enjoying story telling, both for the listener and the teller.

[Simona]

No, I don't know what 'carpet time' is really but I think my suggestions are for reading a story...bringing a story alive ....who says that reading a story has to be just...reading a story!! I won't go there on whether 2&3 year olds should be expected to listen to a story at the end of the day .....the objective was to read a story and keep the children interested enough ...not to walk off, not to make inappropriate noises, appear that they are listening I think.
Interacting with a story is prime at this age...to ensure that the last 3 useless objectives are not the real ones! Go back to why you are reading a story...apart from being on an ill planned timetable? To encourage children to engage with stories and books, to listen with enthusiasm, having a purpose for listening, enjoy,remember, join in with repeated phrases.....to name a few...so I firmly believe in bringing stories alive...if that takes props, instruments scarves etc...then do it. It's called enjoying story telling, both for the listener and the teller.

I couldn't agree with you more :thumbsup:...not sure why you appear to be cross?
The reason why I mentioned carpet time is because how would a large group listen to a story unless they are on the carpet?

[mrs robbie williams]

Brilliant advise thank u all so much will update how it goes later :) x

[mrs robbie williams]

Well it went slightly better today finished a bit earlier than planned so asked each child to come up and sing a song so that killed five mins lol roll on half term lol a week off :) x

[ziggy]

Hi there - used to be a childminder and now work in a pre school (am loving it :) the only problem I have is story time - this is done by me once a week and is at the end of the three hour session usually for about 15 minutes before home time - I seem to struggle holding the childrens interests (age 2 and 3 normally about 12-15 children) - had a meeting yesterday with manager and we both rose this as an issue - they run around wont sit still etc she suggested that i research ways so i thought the best people to ask would be you lovely lot :)

hello again, like you i used to be a childminder and am now a nursery nurse (cant wait to return to childminding). Anyway I also had to do storytime with a group of 12 two year olds (some not quite 2 years old). I found if one of the other 2 staff were free (didnt happen very often) then it helped if she sat with more fidgety children. Our room supervisor allowed ones who didnt want to listen to just wander about but i found that disrupted whole group.

I started off making sure everyone was sitting on carpet and talked about sitting comfortably and 'turning listening ears on' ( which they loved doing), explained that I couldnt read if children were talking or werent listening and would stop and repeat this many times in the beginning. I would have 3 books ready and would ask best behaved child to choose from those 3. to be honest I did read a few of the favourites a lot but didnt see a problem with this. I tried to find books where children could join in, lots of rhyming books. Luckily we had a box with laminated songs which children could choose at end of story so if session was going really badly I would give up and sing instead, thankfully this didnt happen often.. Not sure what other staff are doing at your setting but it really annoyed me when management came in to talk to either me or other 2 staff and totally ruined storytime but heyho thats another story:laughing::laughing::laughing:

[Maza]

Some great ideas suggested BUT I think it was very rude and unhelpful of your manager to ask you to go away and research the issue. I agree that it would be a good idea for you to watch another member of staff do a story time - that is the best way to learn. I'm sorry that she doesn't really seem to know how to train her own staff - which is a big part of her job description. Not much you can do about it though, but just hold your head up high and remember that she is clearly far from perfect if she makes you feel less so.

15 minutes is a long time for just stories and so it definitely needs to be enhanced with songs and such. Props are the big winner though. As Floradora said - big books. It is amazing whenever I have observed lessons/carpet sessions/circle times etc that there are always at least a couple of children who cannot see the book/main resource because they are sitting slightly to the side of it. If your nursery doesn't have big books you can order them from your local library. Try and put it on a big book stand so that you are not blocking the pictures with your arms. If the book is on your left then you will probably turn towards the left and so you really need to think about the children sitting to the right of you - are you blocking their view? Definitely at this stage you need to know which book you are going to be reading. Practise reading it to yourself (in a while you'll be a dab hand and so you won't need to do it for each book). Prepare some props in a bag/box before hand and bring them out creating suspense. Make lots of eye contact with the children and use lots of facial expressions - really exaggerated ones.

When you see an experienced practitioner doing a successful story time it looks like the easiest thing in the world and so you often don't notice a lot of subtle things that they do in order to make it successful. I still remember to this day the day it all clicked and fell into place for me. I was seventeen and was doing some voluntary work in a reception class. One day I decided that I was going to take in my own familiar books and had a couple of props. The teacher kindly commented on how wonderful that session had been (probably wasn't that amazing, bless her, but much better than previous weeks). That one kind comment gave me so much confidence and I now love story time more than anything.

When I worked in nursery we always had another member of staff on the carpet to help by just tapping someone on the shoulder and helping them quickly refocus on the story, so you have got it tough, but I'm sure you can do it!

One other strategy that I used was to have some picture cues of good listening. It was just an A4 laminated piece of card with six pictures on it (eyes looking, hands still, ears etc) and if someone was turning the other way, for example, I would say their name and quickly point to the appropriate picture, eyes in this case). It was much quicker than saying "Johnny, can you please look this way..) and was less distracting for the other children. I don't know where I got it from or I would post a link, but there are loads about on the internet. If someone is sitting nicely, praise then immediately, going overboard, then all the other children will want to copy them - so much sweeter than correcting unwanted behaviour.

Do you have a story in mind? Why not let us all know what you have picked and we can all put our heads together and come up with ideas on props/complimentary activities? Also, you could put together your own little prop box for nursery rhymes so that if your story ends quickly you have some time fillers on hand.

Good luck. It's not easy. x