Dictated stories are an excellent way to introduce a young child to writing stories when he or she is too young to literally write. Toddlers and preschoolers are always chatting about something, so why not record their words for them in a dictated story?
My kids eat oatmeal nearly every morning for breakfast. They love the stuff! We always add lots of yummy goodies to the otherwise plain oatmeal. William can make old fashioned oatmeal completely on his own in the microwave and add all the extras, except the milk. I thought oatmeal stories would be a good way to introduce dictated stories to my kids.
The following is William’s story about how to properly make oatmeal. Notice he lacks specific detail. That is because I didn’t intervene while he told me what to write. I did not prompt him, or ask him questions. I did not ask him to clarify. I simply wrote what he told me.
“Just put oatmeal in a bowl. One scoop. Add some water to it. One scoop and half. Put it in the microwave to let it cook. Push two, zero, zero. When it beeps get it out. Put stuff in it. Strawberries and brown sugar, blueberries and milk. Then you just eat it!” – William, almost 4 yrs.
Corinne also participated in this activity. While she doesn’t make oatmeal on her own, she certainly eats it and has something to say about it.
“Put it in. Sugar and cranberries and crunchies [granola]. That’s all! Milk, too. It’s cold! Yummy oatmeal!” – Corinne, just turned two years
I had cut a bowl shape out of construction paper for the kiddies to glue to the top of their story. Then we added some dried oatmeal. Tip: Use more glue than you think you’ll need. the kids were so pleased to show their dad that evening!
Enjoy!
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I am Sarah, an educator turned stay-at-home mama of five! I am the owner and creator of Stay At Home Educator, a website about intentional teaching and purposeful learning in the early childhood years. I’ve taught range of levels, including preschool and college, and a little bit of just about everything in between. Right now, my focus is teaching my children and running a preschool from my home. Credentials include: Bachelors in Art, Masters in Curriculum and Instruction
I love this idea. My daughter will draw some amazing pictures and I ask her to tell me about them and I write down her crazy flow of thoughts. The grandparents love getting them in the mail and I can’t imagine how much fun they will be to re-read 18 years from now! Great idea- I’ve never thought of having a theme or having them give directions. Thanks for the post!
I love having my kids dictate stories to me – it’s really interesting to see what they come up with and is a good reminder that kids are natural story-tellers. They just need to be encouraged! I love these oatmeal stories, especially the idea of having kids tell how to do something. I think I’m going to have to try that with my kids the next time we write stories.
I’ve done a couple dictated stories with my preschooler, but definitely need to do this more! I love the idea of using a familiar process as a prompt. Super cute oatmeal picture too! Thanks for linking up to Magic Moments Monday! Hope to see you back next month.
This is great… I’ll have to try this with my daughter! I like that you started with something you do every day. It makes it easy for them to talk about and I think it even makes something common into something special by making a story of it. I second what Jessica said, thanks for linking up at magic moments monday, pinning you to our favorites board now! Hope to see you back this month!