Dialogic or “Hear and Say” method of reading
How we read to children is as important as how often we read to them. The most common way is for the adult to read and the child listens. With dialogic "Hear and Say" reading, the adult helps the child become the teller of the story. The adult becomes the questioner, the listener, and the audience for the child. Research shows that children learn the most from books when they are actively involved in the story telling.

How does it work? Dialogic reading is based on three easy techniques.

1. Ask questions. Be careful not to just ask for labels ("What's that?"); instead ask questions that require more thought to answer. Ask, "Why do you think that happened?" "Where...?" "How...?" Repeat what your child says and expand on the answers she provides, adding more detail.


2. Keep questions open-ended. Ask about things that are more abstract, like feelings or predictions about outcomes of the story. Helping your child identify a character's feelings will indirectly help him identify his own. Try to ask questions about the story that relate to events in your toddler's life. "What would you do if this happened to you?" Toddlers are more interested in things that have direct relevance to their own lives.


3. Expand on what your child says. Encourage your child (by example) to speak in complete sentences.

Turn dialogic reading into dialogic everything!

Make it a habit to use this same question-answering strategy in other settings: television, videos and daily life experiences.

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