Empowerment is an essential part of a child’s development. It can help children feel strong and confident and give them a sense of resilience to handle challenges.
One of the best ways to empower a child is to let them make age-appropriate choices. This is also a great way to build language and vocabulary.
Have a fun activity
Having fun with children’s language learning books is a great way to help children build their confidence and self-esteem. Books offer adventures they may never encounter, like chasing dragons or finding treasure.
Empowering kids means teaching them that it’s normal and okay to keep trying if they get frustrated with something. This helps them develop grit and resilience.
Try asking them to retell the story of a wordless book or using flashcards of characters and events from a storybook to play a game where they can describe what they see for you to guess (similar to a “what’s in the bag” game). This lets kids practice their expressive skills while connecting with a favorite book! It also allows you to learn more about their understanding of the story.
Read aloud
Many parents think reading aloud ends once children can read for themselves, but it is a valuable experience for all ages. Reading aloud exposes kids to rich vocabulary and grammar, helps them develop listening skills, and stretches their attention span.
It is a great way to introduce new vocabulary, especially for infants and early talkers. If your child is working on specific speech sounds, you can pause the book and repeat words that contain those sounds.
Begin the session with calm, soothing music so your kids know what to expect. It will help them to relax and settle. Always be bold and continue the story if your audience becomes fidgety. Returning to the story later can create an entirely different learning experience.
Talk about the story.
Whenever possible, incorporate language and reading into everyday activities. For example, read a story about nap or bath time before those events occur.
Talk about the pictures in the book. Make sure you use vocabulary that is relevant to the subject matter. For instance, avoid describing people’s clothes if they aren’t relevant to the story.
Encourage children to retell the story. This will help them understand that a story has a beginning, middle, and end. It can also help them recall information they have listened to and understood. This is especially important when learning about new subjects such as science or social studies. It can also help them to become better readers as they practice their storytelling skills.
Ask questions
Books, whether a picture book, superhero comics, or space encyclopedias, create incredible conversations and learning opportunities. Use questions that encourage children to form opinions, such as ‘why’ and ‘how,” rather than closed questions, such as ‘who.”
Please encourage your child to discuss their interests and be proud of their accomplishments. Saying “You’re so smart” or “You’re such an amazing dancer” can help them feel strong and empowered.
Please support your child in problem-solving and allow them to struggle at appropriate times (as long as it’s developmentally appropriate). Please encourage them to label their emotions, which will help diffuse the situation, and pause before intervening. Help them brainstorm solutions, even if they aren’t good ones, and praise their perseverance. Rewarding effort will teach them that struggle can lead to success!
Retell the story
Children must feel confident and courageous enough to face challenges, especially in the classroom. Helping them develop this inner strength and self-assurance will empower them to tackle whatever comes their way, even if it’s hard.
Retelling is an important skill to teach, but many students need help with it because they need help to hold onto the presented information effectively. This is because of the need for working memory, the ability to retain and manipulate data.
An excellent strategy for teaching story retelling is the “five-finger retelling.” Ask students to hold up their hands and identify each part of the story by using their thumb (characters), index finger (setting), middle finger (conflict/critical events), and pinkie finger (solution).