Story Smarts

"Story Smarts is a great program for young emerging readers who want to improve their story telling concepts, and a wonderful resource.” - Krista Bryanton, parent

“I am thankful that Story Smarts is available for young children. It’s a wonderful way for new and beginner readers to learn how to grasp what’s being read.” - Amy Degeorge, parent

Do you want your child to

• soar in school?
• master the skills needed for reading competence?
• have the ability to summarize stories?
• overcome rambling when recounting events and be able to target in on the main ideas?

If you answered "yes," to any of these questions, then what you are seeking is reading comprehension. It is a skill that is vital to academic success yet it receives little, if any, systematic attention in the early years of school.

Story Smarts changes all that. Even if your child has not yet learned to read, you can use the program to give him or her competence in this vital realm.

Content:

• 30 attractive, full color online picture stories, grouped into two levels of complexity
• sophisticated, but easy to use materials that allow you to teach the key components of comprehension, including the "main idea"
• stories advance steadily from simple to more complex—so that a child always experiences mastery and success
• carefully designed materials that enable your child to overcome any errors or difficulties that may occur in retelling stories
• in early comprehension there are often two main techniques—one is retelling and the other is sequencing of pictures so that the pictures tell the story. Story Smarts online includes both techniques

Six sample book covers:

Click here to view sample pages from Story Smarts Online

FAQs:

Does my child have to read to be able to use the program?
No, there is no need for a child to read. You present the stories by reading them aloud, much as you do when reading stories to very young children. Of course, if your child is at a level where he or she can read the words, that is fine as well.

How long is each session and how many sessions should I do in a week?
Each story takes about 15 to 20 minutes. It's good to do 2-3 stories a week. That means the program takes 10 to 15 weeks to complete. Generally, stories are not repeated. The goal of the program is not to teach children to "memorize" specific stories. Rather, it's designed to teach them how to extract the invisible core structures that form the basis of stories and make them meaningful.

Why is reading comprehension so elusive for so many children?
To a skilled reader, comprehension seems easy and automatic. It is anything but that. Stories contain hundreds of words, lots of details, and no road map as to which detail is more important than another. That's why—when asked to tell a story— many children respond in a scattered fashion, offering something like a shopping list—where sequence and organization don't matter. With the right materials, these problems vanish. That is what Story Smarts is all about.

What are the results I can expect to see?
As a child advances in the program, over a period of three to four months, you will see that he or she:

• gets the "main idea"
• starts predicting the events in stories s/he hears or reads
• relates events experienced in the course of the day
• participates more freely in discussions with others

Who is "Story Smarts" for?
Story Smarts is suitable for students from 6-10 years of age. It is also appropriate for children who are older if they have experienced difficulties in language and/or comprehension. If you are not sure if the program is right for your student, try the following brief assessment.: