Any form of storytelling is good for children. That said, according to me, interactive style is the best.
Involve the child. Ask them questions : What do 'you' think will happen next? Was what happened good or bad? What should the character do now? What should he have done? What do you think is the morals? etc. While repeating an old story, stop mid sentence and wait for the child to complete it. You can even test their attentiveness and understanding by saying something completely wrong/different. Their reaction will reveal the truth.
Such interaction will helps us
1. Hold their attention better
Constant interaction will helps us understand the child's style of thinking. What would 'you' do in this situation? what do 'you' think will come next? Is what happened right or wrong? Children's answers to such questions will make us laugh at times and at times will make us stand up, think and reevaluate our beliefs. It will give us insights into their natural abilities, interests, morale, memory capacity and much more.
4. Stimulate their minds
Involve the child. Ask them questions : What do 'you' think will happen next? Was what happened good or bad? What should the character do now? What should he have done? What do you think is the morals? etc. While repeating an old story, stop mid sentence and wait for the child to complete it. You can even test their attentiveness and understanding by saying something completely wrong/different. Their reaction will reveal the truth.
Such interaction will helps us
- hold their attention better
- check if they have understood what was intended
- understand their way of thinking
- stimulate their minds
1. Hold their attention better
Attention span of kids is very short. Keeping them involved by asking questions will help them tune back in whenever they wander off. Having said that, there will be times when they may seem distracted, but are actually listening. Asking questions will help you check if they indeed distracted.
2. Validate Information
While telling a story, the child might have misunderstood parts of it. There can be many reasons: we might have struggled to express an idea or the child's mind might have wandered off while we were explaining something important. Interacting while narrating will help us validate right information and correct their wrong notions. .
3. Understand them better
While telling a story, the child might have misunderstood parts of it. There can be many reasons: we might have struggled to express an idea or the child's mind might have wandered off while we were explaining something important. Interacting while narrating will help us validate right information and correct their wrong notions. .
3. Understand them better
Constant interaction will helps us understand the child's style of thinking. What would 'you' do in this situation? what do 'you' think will come next? Is what happened right or wrong? Children's answers to such questions will make us laugh at times and at times will make us stand up, think and reevaluate our beliefs. It will give us insights into their natural abilities, interests, morale, memory capacity and much more.
4. Stimulate their minds
The younger the child, the more independent his/her thinking is. Children are capable of out-of-the-box thinking at a very young age. Questioning them inspires them to think deeper. To build creativity, lateral thinking, better articulation of ideas or just simple clear thinking, we need to probe them frequently.
Believe me, we have so much learn from them, if alone we are willing to QUESTION and LISTEN.
Believe me, we have so much learn from them, if alone we are willing to QUESTION and LISTEN.
Such useful and on-target information for all parents/teachers/caregivers who read to children - fantastic nuggets!
ReplyDeleteYour 'kids" must love coming to your classes, Ranju!