Guest author Jeanette Norman

You have probably been reading to your child all of his life. Try a new approach to help them understand and appreciate our written word: help him write a short story. Have them tell you a story and you write it for them. You can take a piece of paper with a few sentences or make a small book. Hare are some of my suggestions:

- After watching a TV program or favorite movie, children love to talk about what they have watched. Have her tell you her favorite parts and summarize on a piece of paper for her.

-Did you just go on a special trip to the zoo, a fair, or a museum recently? Ask him to recall what you saw, what happened, what she liked, etc.

-Mother's Day, Father's Day, or birthdays are good topics for writing a small book about that person as a gift!

-Write about a recent trip to grandma's house.

- With preschool and kindergarten age children, it is a good idea to have old magazines around. There is a used bookstore in our city that sells stacks of 6 or 7 magazines for $1. Go through magazines and find pictures to tell a story about.

Books can be made as simply as stapling some paper together. With preschoolers I have taught, I have taken cardboard left over after a 12-pack of soda is emptied and use it as a book cover. You can cover the cardboard with paper to create a cover, fold it in half, insert paper, and staple the pages together.

There is so much you can do with this idea. Have fun with it and watch your child be proud of the creation he makes!