Our Story Snug aims to foster a love of reading and an opportunity to sharing stories, poems and rhymes to develop vocabulary and imagination within all of our children.
Enjoying books and reading stories from a very early age is crucial in the development of children. It helps with their ability to understand words, use their imagination and develop their speech, as well as being something they really enjoy.
Reading is an area within our whole Nursery that we value with the upmost importance. Below outline some ways we have worked towards improving our provision linked to reading and ensuring our very young learners develop a love of books and all they have to offer.
· Ensure we have a range of high quality texts from classic stories to super fascinating non-fiction books.
· Have a dedicated Library space within our setting that is organised and easy to use for all of our children, staff and families.
· Ensure our book corner within our Nursery setting is inviting, snug, calm and comfortable to allow children the time that is needed to enjoy either looking at the pictures in the book or sharing with an adult.
· Within the book corner we have a high quality selection of books for the children to have free access to.
· Ensure books are in most if not all areas of the nursery to show to the children that they can link between their play interests and imagination.
· Allow children to access books in our outdoor area, both within the main Nursery outdoor area but also out school Allotment and Forest School. We are forever making reading dens in our forest area or using them to find out more information about the insects we find!
· We listen to stories via different media so the children are encouraged and know that they can listen to a story in a number of different ways for example CD
· Ensure each and every day the children have the opportunity to listen to a story that includes gesture, laughs, repetition, sounds and even props. This will be within our group time session each day. Our staff are very highly skilled at reading and sharing stories to really bring them alive. The children really thrive on this experience each and every day.
· We have a home school lending library. Here each week the children get to pick a book of their choice to take home for them to enjoy with their family members.
· We give family members regular hints and tips on affective ways to share stories with our young children and the importance of doing so. This is shared via our communication method on Class Dojo.
· Staff are sometimes filmed sharing a story and this is shared via class dojo this provides the parents/families with the opportunity to see how we read a story in Nursery or for the children to repeatedly watch their key worker share a favorite story which is fantastic!
· The children are encourage to bring in a favorite story from home as a special reward when our monster point chart is full.
· Stories are often used as a ‘hook’ to learning and to generate interest in an area of learning that the children find of interest.
· We often use a technique called Helicopter Stories to shared stories with the children. This encourages the children to use their imagination and invent their own stories. Allowing them to begin to see how a story is developed and structured.
· We have regular visits to the local Library in Consett, at least once a term if not more.
· We are always on the lookout for guest authors into school, which the children find fascinating. We also invite travelling plays or small theatre companies into school.
· Every Christmas the story put on a Christmas show that is based on a fun Christmas story!
· This year we have a Book advent for the children. So as we count down to Christmas each day a child will get to open a door and take a book home.
· Books are often given as prizes or incentives.
