STEP into Storytime: Using StoryTime Effective Practice to Strengthen the Development of Newborns to Five-Year-Olds

StoryTime Effective Practice (STEP), developed by the authors, is an approach that articulates the link between child development theory and storytimes. This important resource shows how presenters can use STEP to craft a storytime that is effective for mixed-age groups and adheres to best practices for emotional, social, physical, and cognitive support. In this book, Ghoting and Klatt, both early literacy experts,

• Offer more than 30 complete ready-to-use storytimes appropriate for newborns to children age 5, along with extension activities
• Show how STEP relates to emotional, social, cognitive, and physical development
• Explain how storytime materials and activities directly connect to language and literacy development
• Include preparation, planning, and performance tips, plus guidance for interacting with parents and caregivers
• Provide lists of recommended additional resources, including organizations, websites, and sources for storytime time activity ideas

This book is a must-have guide for storytime presenters, preschool teachers, child care providers, and parents of young children.

Saroj Nadkarni Ghoting has been a children's librarian for more than 35 years and is now an early childhood literacy consultant. She is coauthor of the best-selling Early Literacy Storytimes @ your library (2005), Early Literacy Kit: A Manual and Tip Cards (2009), and Storytimes for Everyone: Developing Young Children's Language and Literacy (2013). She presents at conferences and conducts face-to-face trainings and online trainings on early literacy, science and math in storytimes, and Every Child Ready to Read. Kathy Fling Klatt has worked as an assistant children s librarian and program coordinator for 35 years at the Mamie Doud Eisenhower Public Library in Broomfield, Colorado, where she presents weekly baby and family storytimes and is responsible for scheduling arts, science, and cultural programs for children ages newborn through fifth grade. She presents Every Child Ready to Read trainings for parents and grandparents and, most recently, Confident Parenting trainings for parents and children, focusing on social and emotional skills. She taught preschool for 30 years, working with three- to five-year-olds and developed and taught preschool science classes at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. She has also copresented on early literacy and music for the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) and the ALA.