Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Storytelling

There is magic in storytelling and I don't know about you, but as an adult, I've totally forgotten about that.  Only after I discovered Waldorf education was I reminded of the magic of storytelling.  Stories in the Waldorf classroom are told orally with puppets, not by reading from a book.  There really is a difference in these two storytelling formats (if you can even call the later storytelling).

D is really lucky because she has a grandma (G's mom) that is a wonderful storyteller. Grandma J was visiting a couple weeks ago and were driving around.  All the while, Grandma J was rattling off stories about their old dog, Pierre and made up silly antics.  Even I was getting mesmerized by her stories.

And it is believed that if your child was having any kind of issues, whether social or emotional, you could address it subconsciously through storytelling. Here is a good post from Parenting Passageway about the Importance of Fairy Tales

I'm not sure how in the world Grandma J knew this, but we are in the midst of swimming lessons for D and all of a sudden, Grandma J tells a story about Pierre, the dog meeting a turtle. And the two had a race.  The turtle won and Pierre was very disappointed so he practiced and practiced until he got better and the next time the two raced, Pierre won.

When I heard that story, I was so thankful for my mother-in-law and her infinite wisdom...I hope one day D thinks of me as such - full of wisdom as opposed to full of cr**.  Or maybe just a bit of both cuz full of cr** can be fun.

Actually, one of our Waldorf mothers told me - children LOVE stories.  They especially love when these stories are about you or their father!  But don't start the story with, "Once when I was young.."  Start the story as any story, "Once there was a girl and she..." and then after the story you end with, "...and that little girl was me! (or your mom! or Belinda)"

I tried that once, but the first thing D asked when I started the story was, "What was her name?" Guess that's not going to work so well for me.  Never mind. The point is - Storytelling is so important in childhood.  It's magical.

I'm not there yet. I still read D books every night before she goes to bed.  Maybe I'll try transitioning to storytelling as she gets a bit older??