Your kindergarten applicant will be assessed on all the core language skills described in this blog at NYC private school kindergarten interviews. Practice these interview skills in the fun ways Meredith and Stephanie recommend!
Four-year-old Olivia’s family loves to read aloud to her, and Olivia loves to listen. Olivia also enjoys pretend play. One of her goals in speech therapy and to prepare for kindergarten interviews is to improve her narrative language skills. It was recommended to her mother that she practice creating short stories with Olivia during their commute to school.
Creating fun, short stories together is one of the easiest and most effective ways to help children improve a variety of communication skills and to succeed at kindergarten interviews.
Storytelling can address many core language goals
Expressive Language Skills
- Retrieve vocabulary terms to add novel information (e.g., objects, actions, character names).
- Construct accurate sentences of varying types (e.g., questions, statements, negation, compound, complex).
Receptive Language Skills
- Process auditory information (e.g., does Olivia understand what her mother says, and can she provide contingent responses?)
- Comprehend question words (e.g., who, what, where)
Executive Functioning Skills
- Maintain attention and engagement through active listening.
- Expand working memory and short-term auditory recall (e.g., as the story gets longer with each turn, there is more to remember)
- Problem solving (e.g., when a conflict arises, can Olivia create a solution?)
- Creative imagination (e.g., novel idea generation is central to inventing a story)
Conversational Skills
- Take conversational turns
- Maintain topics
Early Literacy
- Skilled reading develops by intertwining language comprehension skills with decoding skills, as demonstrated by Scarborough’s Reading Rope.
How To Tell Stories Together
Keep It Short
With preschoolers, each story should be about ninety seconds long. As children mature, the stories can be more elaborate.
First, talk with your child about how stories have a beginning, middle, and end.
Then, using the story element ideas below, each participant contributes one sentence at a time. Through your modeling, your child will learn to add new information using thoughtful sentences.
Story Elements May Include
- Characters
- Problems/Obstacles (e.g., Uh-oh! Something is lost or broken. Oh dear! Someone has hurt feelings or feels worried).
- Locations (e.g., enchanted forest, Grandma’s house, the beach)
- Time information (e.g., morning, lunch time, Summer, Winter, a holiday)
- Objects (e.g., tiara, toilet, balloon, magic wand, basketball, videogame controller)
- Suspense plus sensory detail (e.g., “Suddenly, they heard a crash!” or “Ew yuck! What is that smell?”)
- Predictions – Your child practices anticipating where the plot is heading
- Plot twists – Add an unexpected surprise (e.g., Grandma arrived carrying a big box!).
Last, wrap up your story with a conclusion/problem-solving sentence (e.g., Grandma’s big box held a dozen magical cookies that made everyone feel better immediately). Announce the story is finished by saying, “The end!” or “They all lived happily ever after.”
Make The Story Telling Active and Motivating
Active preschoolers benefit from movement activities paired with language expansion activities. A great way to combine the two is by playing “Story Building Ball Toss.” Each time Olivia or her mom adds to the story, they toss a ball back and forth.
Stories can easily be told on the go as a family (e.g., at a restaurant, in the car, during bath and bedtime). It can be motivating to tell stories pertaining to beloved cartoon characters, princesses, and superheroes.
Some families like to use storytelling dice or card games available on Amazon. You can also use photos from your phone to prompt ideas.
Give it a Try!
Mom: Once upon a time, a princess lost her crown in an enchanted forest! Olivia, what’s going to happen next? (Mom tosses the ball to Olivia.)
- Provide verbal choices as needed. For example: Who does the Princess call for help? or Where does the Princess go to look for her crown first?
Olivia: “The princess called her friend the fairy for help! She asked, “Can you please help me find my crown?” (Olivia tosses the ball back to her mom.)
Mom: “Yes, of course!” said the fairy. They looked everywhere in the forest, until suddenly they found something so yucky! What do you think they found, Olivia?” (toss)
Olivia: “They found a huge mud puddle! And the crown was right in the middle of it. The fairy has to fly!”(toss)
Mom: “Yes, great idea! The fairy flew to the golden crown floating in the mud, picked it up, and brought it back to the princess.” (toss)
Olivia: “The fairy used her magic wand to clean the crown, and the princess said, “Thank you so much!” (toss)
Mom: “The end!”
Encourage quick story-building in your play, and your child’s language will flourish at kindergarten interviews.
Stephanie Sigal, MA, CCC-SLP, helps Manhattan preschoolers thrive at kindergarten interviews and can be reached at sigalstephanie@gmail.com.
Meredith Gennaro, MS, CCC-SLP, provides speech-language therapy services through her private practice in Manhattan and can be reached at meredithg@cometogetherslp.com. Check out Meredith’s free newsletter, Word Playtime, for strategies in building strong language skills through connection and play at home and in the classroom.