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Story time—at home, at nursery and at school—is where young children encounter the magic of books. Reading stories to young children is a pleasurable activity in itself, but it also lays the foundation for language and literacy development and has .

What's more, has shown in the language skills of children who had story time at home and those who didn't.

Parents and teachers can further expand the benefits of story time by getting children involved in what's known as —engaging in conversations about stories. This means using questions to get children talking about the book. This talk can deepen children's knowledge and understanding, and help them learn about language. It can include asking what children remember about plot points to encourage their recall of the book, and asking "why" questions about characters' choices.

A has highlighted the significance of these kinds of conversations during story time. It has benefits for reading enjoyment, reading motivation, parent-child attachment and parental confidence.

Dialogic reading affects children's vocabulary as well as their . One divided 36 children with vocabulary delays into groups taking part in shared reading or shared dialogic reading. While both groups showed improvements, the dialogic reading group had significantly larger gains in vocabulary.

Language and communication is a of the early years foundation stage in England—the guidelines for the education and development of children aged from birth to five. What's more, the practice of dialogic reading is a valuable way to develop young children's —the ability to articulate ideas when speaking, listen carefully and communicate effectively.

However, curriculum pressures can make it difficult for teachers to at school. Policy directives that prioritize —reading instruction that focuses on the ability to understand how letters and groups of letters represent sounds. This leaves less time for the development of oracy skills.

Oracy education

In 2024, the Oracy Commission, an independent body campaigning to embed oracy across the curriculum, published highlighting oracy's importance. It pointed out that oracy prepares young children and pupils for the demands of their future lives: it's needed to give a presentation, argue an idea, and take part confidently in university seminars and work meetings. The report noted that access to high-quality oracy education is not universal.

Oracy in education was a key part of the current Labour government's . But its absence from the of an ongoing review into curriculum and assessment has .

My research project has worked to improve early years teachers' skills in using dialogic reading techniques with three- and four-year-olds. The program uses traditional tales, such as Goldilocks and the Three Bears. In addition to questions such as "what can you see on this page?" and "what happened next?", practitioners are also encouraged to ask questions that provoke children's thinking. These include "would it be good or bad to eat someone else's porridge?" and "was Goldilocks brave?"

The early findings suggest that high-quality training through this program has improved early years teachers and practitioners' interactions during shared reading and enhanced children's listening and attention, thinking skills and enjoyment of and engagement with stories.

The language, social, and emotional benefits of story time mean it should be seen as a fundamental part of the early years curriculum—rather than a luxury or an add-on.

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