Children with communication challenges often have trouble retelling past events.  This may make it hard for them to tell you about something that happened or communicate clearly about past events.

In order for a child to be able to retell past events, they first must be able to answer questions about past events.  This helps us to know if they can remember the details and bring them to mind.  Once we are sure the child can do that, then we need to teach them how to put the steps to common activities in order.  This shows us that they know how to form and use sequences.

Once the child has mastered these two previous skills, they are ready to learn how to retell past events with the details in the correct order. Here are the resources for teaching this skill.

How to Teach a Child to Recall and Retell Stories and Past Events:

1. Remembering a Single Picture

• Show them a picture and then put it away and say “What was in the picture?”

2. Answering Questions about a Book

• Read a story and then ask specific questions about it immediately after like “Who was the main character?” and “What did he do at the ___?”.

3. Recalling Events from a Book

• Read a story and then immediately after ask them “What happened in the story?”
• Prompt them to tell you 3 events from the story and then put them in order.

For more information about helping a child learn to sequence, click here!

4. Answering Questions about an Immediately Past Event

• Do something and then immediately ask the child questions about what you just did.
• Once they can do that, move on to asking questions about something that happened right before starting to work on this.

5. Recalling Events from an Immediately Past Event

• Do three things and then ask the child to retell the three things in order.
• Ask the child to tell you what happened during the activity immediately before starting to work on this.

6. Answering Questions about Further Past Events

• Ask the child questions about an event that happened a while ago, like their last meal or what they did after school last night.
• Ask the child questions about events that happened further and further back, like their last birthday party or going to visit Grandma.

7. Recalling Events from a Further Past Event

• Ask the child to retell three things that happened during an event that happened a while ago while keeping the steps in order.
• Work on doing this for things that happened further and further back.

The Sequencing and Retelling Curriculum by Speech and Language Kids is a structured program that speech-language pathologists, SLPAs, parents, and teachers can follow to help children learn story recall and recalling past events.

The Curriculum is based on evidence-based practices and breaks down therapy into phases that gradually build up success over time.

Everything needed for therapy is included: skill progressions, tracking tools, therapy materials, training videos, support, and AI-powered material generators that will instantly generate additional practice materials tailored to a child’s interests and skill level.

A subscription to the SLK Curriculum also includes the Curriculums in other areas as well, such as language, social, fluency, etc.