Story time engagement ‘boosts early language development by seven months’  

Interactive reading strategies proving effective include encouraging young children to think about what happens next in a story or to relate it to their own experience.

Children should also be encouraged to learn about the different parts of an object, for example a flower, to improve their vocabulary.

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The findings have been revealed by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) in latest evidence looking into priority areas of learning and development and good practice in supporting young people.

Such engagement techniques in story time are particularly needed to support disadvantaged young people, who have already slipped behind their more affluent peers post-pandemic, said the charity.  

EEF found that on average there are three more children per class not reaching expected levels of development by the end of reception class in 2021, compared with levels prior to the health crisis.

“There is evidence of language gaps for disadvantaged pupils at the beginning of school, so targeted communication support may be a promising approach to narrow these inequalities,” states the EEF’s evidence, which has been presented in a toolkit for early educators.

This stresses the importance of linking children’s spoken language with their reading and writing skills.

“Giving every child access to great learning and development opportunities in the early years is absolutely crucial to making sure they achieve their potential", said EEF chief executive Becky Francis. 

“Early years professionals play a central role in this mission. But, with the sector facing a number of immediate challenges, they shoulder a huge amount of responsibility in their day-to-day working lives.

“We want early years professionals feel empowered to use education evidence to their advantage, so that they can make informed choices about the strategies they adopt in their practice.”

The EEF also recommends early years educators seek help from specialist speech and language services if they are “unsure of how best to support a child or suspect that a child is not meeting developmental norms”.