”Making reading a fun activity through storytime helps encourage “print motivation”- i.e. the association of story-telling with excitement to develop the idea of reading as a pleasure and not a chore.
Tom Brunohttps://medium.com/everylibrary/library-storytime-its-a-lot-more-than-just-the-story-c1aaf978aa29
If you have had even the inkling of starting an Arabic group, I highly encourage you to do so! It is a great way to do the following two things (1) expose your child to a second language outside of your home and (2) help you network with other parents who are also interested in teaching their kids that language and potentially the culture. Kids feel validated and you feel connected. It’s a win-win!
Here’s are the basic steps!
STEP ONE: DECIDE ON A TIME AND PLACE that works for you (the organizer) and one maybe two acquaintances or friends. My motto is “If we build it they will come and if they don’t, we’ll have fun anyway”. The schedule has to work for you if you are going to sustain your efforts. Plus, there is no way to make it fit everybody’s schedule. If someone loves the idea , he/she will make it work.
As for places, we used our own living rooms and local libraries, which had public meeting spaces that we reserved in advance. If neither of those is an option, check out your local community center, look through local ParentMap children’s magazines to see where other language meet-ups are happening, or ask around on social media to see if local friends have ideas for where you can meet. For toddler circle time you really just need a carpeted quiet-ish space to sit in a circle. The less distractions the better. Having tables and chairs are not necessary but are great if you plan to do crafts or snacks.
STEP TWO: PLAN YOUR STORY TIME. Story times are generally for children ages two to six – roughly preschool age. I will do future blogs where I expand on each of these in more detail but you will want an opening song to welcome in the group. And then you will want to be prepared to do a mix of gross motor activities (where the children are standing up and moving along with you (e.g. head, shoulders, knees and toes), a mix of finger play (fine motor) where the kids are sitting but still using their hands to follow along (think Itsy Bitsy Spider, although you can make this gross motor, too), as well as a mix of short stories and songs. Thirty to 45 minutes is the maximum length I would commit too. I like to close with a goodbye song and a sticker or stamp prize for the kids. Farashaty Team also has some great online story times on YouTube you can watch for ideas! Do build in some social time for parents to connect, exchange information afterwards.
STEP THREE: SPREAD the WORD. If you have a large enough personal reach, invite your friends. You can also ask the place where you are hosting if they publicize events. And consider creating a Facebook Event or list it in your local Parent Map or Red Tricycle (both are free).
If you feel you do not have the enough Arabic to lead then STEP FOUR: CONSIDER POOLING FUNDS TO HIRE SOMEONE TO LEAD (ideally someone with childhood education experience). We collected money and paid some young native speakers who were good with kids to come and lead the group. When I gained a little more confidence and when my children were old enough to follow along without assistance, I decided to lead the groups myself. Other groups have parents rotate the responsibility, though it is challenging to lead and have your children there with you.
It is a lot of fun! And the ArabishWay Treasure Chest has a ton of ideas for filling that 30 minutes! There are tons of resources on line (here is another post about starting a story time by Maktabatee, and this one about the benefits of story times from Medium.com for example). I believe these are so important that I am also happy to work with anyone one-on-one who is interested in setting up a circle time or story time in their area. Call me 425-242-1211 or email me at Arabishway at gmail.com with questions or to set up a time to chat.
Yella! You can do it!
