Turning Storytime Into Conversation: Speech Therapy in NYC That Builds Narrative Skills Using Engaging Literature
Storytime is a fantastic and engaging way to help your child build solid language, literacy, communication, and narrative skills!
Reading to your child has huge benefits! It helps them to build, grow, and achieve many speech and language milestones – naturally!
As a therapist who offers speech therapy in NYC, I highly recommend reading to your young child for at least 15-30 minutes every day. You can do this whenever it fits easily and practically into your schedule.
When Is the Best Time to Do Storytime With My Child?
Story time may look a little different for every child and family, and that is beautiful! Embrace what storytime looks like in your family!
- For some families, story time might happen before bedtime – as a wind-down activity to the day.
Bedtime reading can be a special time to connect with mom and dad after work.
- For other families, shared reading time may happen when your child first wakes up in the morning.
Reading can be a very regulating and calming activity for the nervous system.
For a highly energetic child who may have trouble sitting down and finishing a breakfast meal, adding some reading while eating can be very helpful.
Some children may also enjoy exploring literature together with you in the middle of the day. Maybe after a trip to the park or a nutritious snack.
There really is no wrong time to pull out a book and engage your child in the wonder of reading!
Reading with your child is magical. Together you can explore different worlds, use your imagination, travel to faraway places, and pretend to be mythical creatures!
Developing Narrative Skills in NYC Through Receptive Language and Story Exploration
Reading Classical Fairy Tales is one of my ‘go-to’ activities for building many important foundational language skills.
Some of my favorite classical tales to read with my students include: Goldy Locks and the Three Bears, Jack and the Beanstalk, The Three Billy Goats Gruff, and The Three Little Pigs – to name just a few!
- First, we explore the story together. I encourage each child to look at the pictures in the book while I read the story aloud to them.
- After each page, I may have the child point to characters described or the objects seen and target vocabulary that I name.
This helps to target a child’s developing receptive language skills or understanding of language. Encouraging pointing to named objects improves the understanding and processing of vocabulary.
Next, I might ask different questions about the presented story, such as:
- Who is the story about?
- Where is the story taking place?
- When is the story happening?
- What do you think will happen next?
- Why do you think that will happen?
- How does the character feel? Why do they feel that way?
- How does the story end? Would you change it?
This helps to develop a child’s growing expressive language skills (spoken language skills), critical thinking, and inferencing skills.
Now comes the best part! We all get to act out and embody the story – together!
Remember – storytime can be ACTIVE too!
I love acting out these treasured stories with all my amazing and creative thinkers!
In fact, I often gleefully encourage each child to become each character in the book – and I watch their imaginations instantly come alive!
A child can easily transform into Goldlocks – tasting the hot & cold porridge, or the big bad wolf blowing the stick house down, or the Giant – yelling Fe, Fi, Fo, Fum – who do I smell?
Acting out the story helps to develop a child’s confidence, imagination, expressive language skills, narrative skills, and even targets voice and articulation goals!
Inviting Children to Rewrite Stories & Think Creatively Through Books
- Lastly, I invite children to change the story in any way that they choose.
Maybe, they desire a different ending, or a different setting, or a different solution to the problem presented.
Guess what? That is not a problem! “Abra-ca-da-bra! Your wish is granted!
Thinking of alternative characters, problems, solutions, or endings is actually fantastic practice for building up those higher-level thinking and narrative skills. These skills include inferencing, sequencing, hypothetical thinking, perspective taking, and role playing!
Storytime is also a wonderful time to help explore and discuss feelings with your child that they may be experiencing and processing, such as fear, anger, love, sadness, or grief.
Books can also be used as a beneficial tool to help a child process fearful emotions. Maybe they are anxious about a particular activity or place.
I personally love the Maisy Character Books to help familiarize a child with an activity or place they may be nervous about. In the Maisy series, your child can travel with her to her first day of school, the doctor’s office, or the playground with her friends for a picnic!
By presenting activities through books, this provides added visual support.
It also allows you to talk about the experience or place with a little distance created, while exploring the character’s feelings.
This provides calming strategies for both the character and your child. And you can refer back to the story when your child engages in the activity in real life.
Providing this added support and preparation through storytime activities can make all the difference in calming your child’s worries and fears. Therefore, allowing them to feel more comfortable and confident when they are ready to explore new things, places, and people.
How Daily Storytime Supports Social-Emotional and Language Development
There are countless meaningful ways to incorporate reading and storytime into your child’s daily routines. This naturally improves both their social-emotional health and overall language development throughout their childhood.
I would love to hear what some of your favorite children’s books are to read to your little ones every day. I’ll add them to my reading list for next month!
Alongside being a pediatric speech therapist, I am also a published children’s book author. I am the creator of the original story – The Learning Adventures of Carrie the Colorful Chameleon. This is an imaginative story to empower and inspire children.
Join Carrie the Colorful Chameleon as she joins her friends in discovering all the wonders in the rainforest, like shapes, colors, fruits, numbers, and emotions! While reading this book, your children will learn all the academic concepts taught in early childhood education.
Chatty Child in NYC Can Help
If your child is struggling during storytime, we can help!
Our experienced speech therapists can assess your child’s literacy and language needs – providing the personalized and tailored support your child needs to thrive and succeed.
Chatty Child is a personalized, boutique, neurodivergent affirming speech and occupational therapy clinic.
We are here to support all your child’s occupational and speech therapy needs.
I invite you to schedule a tour to discover the support waiting for your child at Chatty Child.
We are here to help. Let’s create voices, calm kids, and limitless possibilities – together!
Sincerely,
Heather Lynn Boerner, MA CCC/SLP
Turn Storytime Into Growth With Speech Therapy for Narrative Skills in NYC
At Chatty Child, we help children learn how to share clearer, more connected stories through personalized, play-based care. Speech therapy for narrative skills can help make storytime more interactive, meaningful, and language-rich.
Whether your child needs support with language, literacy, retelling stories, or expressing themselves more clearly, we meet them where they are and build skills through everyday routines at home, school, and play.
Here’s how to get started:
- Call 347.491.4451 or reach out online for a free 15-minute conversation.
- Complete a comprehensive evaluation of your child’s communication and narrative language skills.
- Begin individualized speech therapy focused on storytelling and expressive language.
- Support ongoing growth as your child builds stronger narrative skills and confidence in communication.
With supportive care from our speech therapists in NYC, children can turn storytime into a foundation for stronger communication and connection.
Whole-Child Support for Communication, Learning, and Emotional Growth in NYC
At Chatty Child, we support children in developing the communication, academic, and social-emotional foundations they need to thrive across home, school, and community settings. Our whole-child approach recognizes that language, behavior, relationships, and confidence are deeply connected and grow together.
Our services include:
- Speech Therapy – Individualized, play-based support focused on language development, articulation, social communication, and confidence in everyday interactions.
- InterAct – A creative storytelling and play-based program that builds language skills, imagination, and connection through shared narratives.
- Occupational Therapy – Support for sensory processing, motor development, and independence in daily routines.
- Hum Studios – Mindfulness and compassion-based classes that support emotional regulation and accessibility for all ages.
- Teletherapy – Flexible virtual speech and occupational therapy services available across New York State.
- Tutoring – Personalized academic support in reading, writing, comprehension, and critical thinking.
- Functional Nutrition – Nutrition-informed strategies that support attention, regulation, and overall developmental well-being.
- Consulting – Collaborative guidance for parents, caregivers, and educators to support children across environments.
- Group Programs – Small-group sessions designed to strengthen communication, cooperation, and social-emotional development.
Meet Heather: NYC Speech Therapist Supporting Children’s Communication Growth
Heather Lynn Boerner, MA, CCC-SLP, is a New York–licensed, nationally certified speech-language pathologist with 20+ years of experience providing pediatric speech therapy in NYC. Her approach combines clinical training with mindfulness, trauma-informed care, and lived experience as a neurodivergent and differently-abled clinician.
She founded Chatty Child Speech, Occupational & Physical Therapy, PLLC to offer inclusive, individualized, and creative support for children’s communication development. She is also the author of Carrie the Colorful Chameleon, a children’s book focused on confidence and self-expression.
Heather and her team provide in-person services in Tribeca and virtual therapy across New York State, helping children build stronger communication skills and everyday confidence.
