Make Your Kid A Genius!
How to Awaken Your Child's Innate Intelligence
| January 2003 |
Issue
#13
|
Irene Helen Zundel, Editor, artwhiz@greenepa.net
By subscription only! Welcome to the current issue of "MAKE YOUR KID A GENIUS".
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IN THIS ISSUE
Feature Article: Teaching with Stories
New Section: Homeschooling Ideas
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Teaching With Stories
by Irene Helen Zundel
Stories can be powerful — they spark the imagination, stir the emotions, and leave lasting impressions. They inspire, teach, and even heal.
It doesn't matter if the stories are old favorites or ones you write yourself. If they are prose or poetry. Spoken or drawn or written.
Telling stories, and teaching children how to create their own, can have lifelong benefits and positive effects for your family.
1. Reading stories to young children stimulates language development and increases their emotional intelligence.
(For further info, see my article online in Wonder Years Magazine):
How Reading Improves Emotional Intelligence
http://www.partnershipforlearning.org/article.asp?ArticleID=1825
2. Teaching children to write, draw, and tell stories gives them a safe way to express their feelings, fears and anxieties, and to memorialize their accomplishments and positive experiences.
Remember: If children don't express their feelings, they tend to somatize them, (express them bodily) causing tummy aches, headaches, and other illnesses.
3. Crafting stories and poems increases your child's overall language skills, both spoken and written. Studies show that children with good communication skills develop better relationships later in life, and are more likely to succeed in higher education and in the work place.
4. Storytelling gives parents an opportumity to teach without sounding preachy or boring! A fascinating fable or a great fairy tale can make your point for you, and it likely will be remembered longer than any powerhouse lecture you might give.
5. Creating stories with your children can make opportunities to discuss and resolve family problems.
For example: Is your toddler biting your newborn baby? Is scolding not working?
Try this:
Tape a big piece of fingerpaint paper to your kitchen table. Get some edible paints from your refrigerator and cabinets-- honey, maple syrup, chocolate syrup, pudding etc.
Tell your child:
"You know, these fingerpaints remind me of a silly story. When I was about your age, my mother had my baby brother, Joey. Everyone thought he was so cute and was always fussing over him, but not me! I sure didn't like him. He was stupid, cried all the time, wasn't any fun to play with, and he smelled bad! When Mom and Dad weren't looking, I used to bite him. One day they saw me sneaking peanut butter and jelly into the nursery. I figured if I was gonna bite him, I better make him taste a little better. Boy were they mad at me!"
As the story unfolds, let your toddler express his feelings, ask questions, paint pictures of bawling babies, piles of diapers, and sad faces. Show understanding about what he is going through. Then start to weave positive things into the story:
"Of course, as Joey got older, we played together all the time. We were best buddies! Mom told me babies get lots of attention because they are helpless. She loved me just as much as ever and she was proud of all the things I could do. Then I started teaching my baby brother how to learn big boy stuff, and it was fun. I'm sorry I bit him, but he forgives me."
Creating story activities like this helps your child identify his feelings, understand problems, and work out ways to solve them, without a sense of shame or guilt. After all, you did the same thing as a child, and you aren't a bad person!
7. Encouraging your children to write stories, plays, poems and songs develops a love for the arts and literature. It jump starts their right brain and improves their creativity. And who knows, it might uncover some latent talent for acting, singing, or writing that you can help nurture in your child.
8. Storytelling provides opportunities to relate family history and traditions, and to provide biographies of interesting characters in your family tree. Making new stories creates family history that can be passed along to future generations.
9. A tradition of tucking in your kids and reading them a bedtime story strengthens bonds and creates happy memories.
There are many wonderful books and websites that feature great stories and tips for creating your own. I have listed a few below to get you started. I hope you have a look and get inspired!
For further exploration:
Children's Literature (oodles of links!)
http://www.floridasmart.com/subjects/langarts_literature_kids.htm
Mything*Links (reference page for teachers and homeschoolers) http://mythinglinks.org/reference~teachers.html
Storytelling Made Easy
http://fatherhood.about.com/library/weekly/aa060102b.htm
Listening Activities:Stories
http://www.theenglishprofessor.com/stories.htm
Character Building Stories (book list)
http://www.usoe.k12.ut.us/curr/char_ed/stories/books.html
Storytelling Links on the Internet (a BIG collection!)
http://www.storynet.org/resources/links.htm
The Value of Story Sharing
http://www.berthelotconsulting.pen.net/drdolly/story.htm
Here is a teaching tale I wrote. It is an adaptation of an old myth of unknown origin. I hope you like it!
The Rainbow of Peace
A very long time ago on Earth, all the beautiful colors God made gathered together to have a talk. Unfortunately, it didn't take long for them to begin to argue. Each color thought they were the most beautiful or special, or most important or useful. My how they bragged!
Green said:
"Clearly I am the most important color of all. God chose me to represent life. Aren't the leaves and grasses green? Don't these provide food for all living creatures? Without me, both man and beast would surely starve."
Blue replied:
"You think only of the Earth. But what about the sea and the sky? The sea is teeming with life, and from the sky comes rain that refreshes everything. All living things need water. Blue is also a peaceful color. When men gaze at the sky, they think of God in heaven and feel calm inside. Surely I am the best color of all."
Yellow laughed at Blue and Green. He bragged:
"I am the one whose color is bright and cheerful. People are happy when they see me. I am the color of the moon and sun and stars which God made to adorn the heavens. Sunflowers are also yellow, and always turn their faces towards God's light and warmth. There is no doubt that yellow is the best color!"
Orange chimed in:
"I am the color found in pumpkins, carrots, mangoes, papayas and oranges which are filled with important vitamins needed for life and health. I am the color of both sunrise and sunset. The day begins and ends with me. I am a rarer color in nature than blue or green. That fact alone makes me the most special!"
Red sputtered in indignation:
"You are all fools! Red is the color of blood, the fluid of life. I represent love and passion. I am found in roses which humans give one another as a token of their affection. Red is the superior color!"
Purple stated in a very dignified manner:
"I am the color of authority, power and royalty. Kings, chiefs and bishops have always worn me to represent their wisdom and their position of leadership. Men respond with respect to people that wear purple. Surely you can see how important I am!"
Indigo finally spoke in a quiet but persuasive manner and said:
"I am the color of twilight and still, deep waters. I represent quiet reflection and deep thought. Indigo is the color that inspires mankind to contemplate their lives and meditate on the Creator. What is more important than to know God?"
Just then it began to rain. It wasn't one of those soft and gentle sprinkles that make you feel happy to be alive. It was a big, scary, noisy rain storm!
Lightning flashed angrily across the sky. Thunder bellowed and roared.
By instinct, the colors all moved close to one another, seeking a feeling of comfort and safety. As they were huddled in fear, God spoke from the center of the storm.
"Silly colors! I created each one of you for a different, unique and valuable purpose. You all are special and important. Now, join hands and come to me."
In humble obedience, the colors united as God had asked.
Then the Creator said:
"From now on, each time it rains, you are to join hands and stretch a beautiful bow of colors across the sky. It will serve to remind you, and mankind as well, that it is possible for all to live in peace."
And now you know why God has blessed us with the rainbow...
HOMESCHOOLING IDEAS
Using the story "The Rainbow of Peace":
1. Create a science lesson about how rainbows are formed or the refraction of light through a prism.
2. Have an art lesson about the color wheel, the properties of colors, how to combine them etc.
3. Discuss the symbolism of the story and possible ways to interpret it. Have your child write a story using one or more symbols.
4. Use the story as an opportunity to discuss arguing and conflict resolution, friendship, the possibilities of a peaceful planet, equality among people etc.
5. Discuss the rainbow in terms of the biblical account, or rainbow symbolism in other religions and cultures.
6. The rainbow is now a New Age Symbol, a political symbol (Jesse Jackson's Rainbow Coalition), a gay pridesymbol, and a hippie symbol (The Rainbow People). Create a social studies class about any or all of the above groups, what they hope to accomplish and why they chose the rainbow for their symbol.
7. Find out the psychological and emotional effects of colors, and discuss how they are used in every day life.
For example, dentists decorate their offices in blue because it has a soothing effect. Children's rooms are often done in bright, primary colors. Does it have an effect on the development of vision? Why are we green with envy, seeing red when we are mad, or being yellow if we have an attack of cowardice? Do advertisers use color to manipulate our emotions and influence our buying decisions?
Suggested websites for preparing homeschool lessons:
Education World
http://www.education-world.com/
Bill Nye the Science Guy
How Things Work
http://howthingswork.virginia.edu/
RefDesk
Scholastic Teachers
http://teacher.scholastic.com/
Home Schooling Links
http://www.awesomelibrary.org/Office/Main/Involving_Family/Home_Schooling.htm
Children's Search Engines
http://www.oswego.org/ocsd-web/teaching/kidsearch/kidssearch.htm
edHelper
Sites for Parents (about 300 links!)
http://www.sitesforparents.com
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Laura Dyer, creator of Little Language products, has completed a new book to be released by Simon and Shuster and Meadowbrook Press next fall. The working title is "Look Who's Talking: Nourishing your child's language skills from birth to seven." It will include the latest research on speech and language development with additional chapters on bilingualism, trilingualism, signing with your normal hearing infant and language issues in international adoption. For more information on Little Language products, visit her website: http://littlelanguage.com.
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Irene Helen Zundel
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©2003 Irene Helen Zündel