Atlanta, GA, Oct. 01, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ChildCare Education Institute® (CCEI), an online child care training provider dedicated exclusively to the early care and education workforce, offers LIT100: Storytelling for Enrichment, Early Literacy, and Fun! as a no-cost trial course to new CCEI users October 1-31, 2020.

Storytelling and dramatic play are often overlooked in terms of their importance for building early literacy skills.  In fact, storytelling is one of the most important tools available to early childhood educators for a variety of reasons.  However, many educators shy away from storytelling or consider it a special treat, rather than an integral part of the curriculum.  The Storytelling for Enrichment, Early Literacy, and Fun! course provides comprehensive guidance for incorporating storytelling into the early childhood environment. Participants will learn why storytelling is important for young children, as well as strategies for effective storytelling and rich follow-up activities such as group discussion and playacting. Through storytelling, educators can forge strong bonds with their students while promoting essential early literacy and communication skills.

Aside from fueling the imagination, there are concrete, practical reasons for sharing fairytales, folktales, and other stories with children. For instance, stories can help children understand other cultures, including values, beliefs, and customs. Classic tales, such as Aesop’s Fables or Grimm’s fairytales, provide an extra boost of relevance with regard to early literacy. That’s because, as readers, children will often encounter references to these classic tales in conversation and in other writings, whether they are reading a novel or a newspaper article. Stories build what educator E.D. Hirsch refers to as “cultural literacy,” which is essentially the background knowledge a person needs in order to be a fluent reader and a productive, active citizen. Many fairytales, folktales, myths, legends, fables, and other stories are deeply embedded in the English language and American culture. The ability to understand references to these stories is essential for becoming a fluent, fully literate reader.

Any high−quality early childhood program includes reading aloud in its curriculum. There is absolutely no question among researchers and educators that reading to children is essential for language and early literacy development. The only debate revolves around how much and what to read to children, and the general consensus is that we should read to children as much as possible from as wide a variety of appropriate high−quality texts as possible. Reading aloud to children is essential for building early literacy skills, but there is another activity of equal value for young children: storytelling. It is no secret that children enjoy storytelling—both as givers and as receivers—but it is often overlooked as a valuable component in an effective early childhood curriculum.

“Storytelling in the early childhood environment inspires purposeful talking, raises enthusiasm for reading, initiates writing, and improves listening skills among other important developmental factors," says Maria C. Taylor, President and CEO of CCEI .  “This course helps educators learn how to incorporate language skills, cultural knowledge, and creativity into the daily curriculum.”

LIT100: Storytelling for Enrichment, Early Literacy, and Fun! is a two-hour, intermediate-level course and grants 0.2 IACET CEU upon successful completion.  Current CCEI users with active, unlimited annual subscriptions can register for professional development courses at no additional cost when logged in to their CCEI account. Users without subscriptions can purchase child care training courses as block hours through CCEI online enrollment.

For more information, visit www.cceionline.edu or call 1.800.499.9907, prompt 3, Monday - Friday, 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. EST

ChildCare Education Institute, LLC

ChildCare Education Institute®, a division of Excelligence Learning Corporation, provides high-quality, distance education certificates and child care training programs in an array of child care settings, including preschool centers, family child care, prekindergarten classrooms, nanny care, online daycare training and more. Over 150 English and Spanish child care training courses are available online to meet licensing, recognition program, and Head Start Requirements. CCEI also has online certification programs that provide the coursework requirement for national credentials including the CDA, Director and Early Childhood Credentials.  CCEI, a Council for Professional Recognition CDA Gold Standard™ training provider, is accredited by the Distance Education Accrediting Commission (DEAC), is recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) and is accredited as an Authorized Provider by the International Association for Continuing Education and Training (IACET).

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