Story Telling

Why storytelling?

Beautiful stories are like food for the soul!

-The gift of inner picturing, building their capacities for reading comprehension in later years.

-The gift of experience through the other and learning through those experiences. Through inner picturing, they are able to try on being the various characters of a story and play out what happens to those characters

- Learning about the world along with the creatures in it.

What Stories?

In our kindergarten, we tell stories about nature, ourselves, and fairy tales from around the world. At home, many people naturally tell stories about their day. You can expand this to tell your child about your own childhood as well as a variety age appropriate fairy tales and stories in the world. You will have many examples from the kindergarten as we move through the year.

Who Tells the Stories?

Children love to hear stories from those with whom they built connections. Of course, professional storytelling is always wonderful but the children receive a deeper experience when they have a relationship with the storyteller. As the teacher, I will be building a connection with the children over time. As their parent or caregiver, you have that connection, and stories from you will be a gift.

Where and when do we tell stories

While the children will hear stories regularly at school you can also weave stories into various times of the day. This may be at resting times, when going to bed, more personal ones at mealtimes, or during car rides. It is wonderful to make it a cozy ritual. Lighting a candle, as we do in the kindergarten, gives this time a special touch. Don't limit yourself to these times though. Your children will love to hear lots of stories from you anytime.

How to tell stories?

Tell the story from your heart rather than your head.

There are benefits to a variety of storytelling. Some are read, some are told by heart, some made up in the moment, and others are recalled, changing a little over time.

Children of this age do well when stories are not over-dramatized or explained. Let the story speak for itself. When children ask questions, you can reply, "I wonder." This allows them to make their own meanings and develop their own experiences of the story.