I would love some ideas of how to help my child engage with stories.
Set aside regular reading time where you read aloud to your child. Choose books that align with their interests and reading level. Before reading a new story, encourage your child to make predictions about what might happen based on the cover, title, or initial pages. Ask open-ended questions like, "What do you think will happen next?" Help your child relate the story to their own life experiences. Ask questions like, "Has anything similar ever happened to you?" or "How do you think the character feels?" Encourage them to draw connections between the events in the story and their own feelings or experiences.
These are great suggestions to get kids engaged. I always find that setting a specific time each day to focus on reading is helpful for kids. Giving kids a choice of what they would like to read based on interest will also keep their engagement.
Kids will always be more engaged when they have a choice in what they are reading. I like to take my son to the library on the weekends so he can choose book that interest him. Once he is interested then we discuss the story elements after we are done reading.
My son loves to make predictions before we read. He loves to see if he is correct at the end of the story.
This is a great way for your child to become engaged and want to keep reading.