Oh, the Stories We Tell

“Tell a story Mama” EVERY. NIGHT. We now have a two story limit at bedtime because story time has made the whole bedtime routine so much longer. It could be a stalling tactic or evidence that my son really loves stories (or maybe even both). Either way, storytelling plays a major role in the literacy development of my children. This could also explain why my six-year-old loves to write stories and recognizes that she can produce books like the ones she sees in bookstores and libraries.

There are huge benefits to storytelling. When we engage in storytelling, we are actively listening, envisioning, and comprehending. While my husband and I tell many stories, we also encourage our children to tell stories. Since they have heard so many stories, my children typically include some story elements (setting, characters, rising action, conflict, resolution).

Storytelling Tips

* To teach children about storytelling, read many fiction books and tell them stories. That’s it. There is nothing you have to have in order to encourage and support storytelling.

* As your child tells stories, encourage them with specific feedback about their story with phrases like, “That was a great way for your characters to solve their problem” or “What a fantastic ending! I wasn’t expecting that!”

* If your child gets stuck, allow them some time to think about how they want to continue.

* After you have given them a few minutes (which may feel like forever to you) and they are still unable to continue, you can ask them questions like, “What will (character’s name) do?” or “What could happen next?” or “How will this continue?”

* If your child still needs help, you could offer options of how the story could go (For example, you could say “I wonder if (character’s name) will do (name an action) or if he/she will (name a different action) or you could offer to tell part of the story until they are ready to tell more of the story.

* You can always tell stories together if you feel like your child needs more support in the beginning. Although, let them do as much of the telling as they are willing to do. Some of their stories may make no sense whatsoever and that’s okay. (You should hear some of my two year old’s stories) If you continue to model storytelling for them and provide a safe and encouraging environment, their stories will evolve. We love listening to what they come up with. Their stories often provide a ton of insight as to what they pay attention to when you are telling stories and when they are reading.

Listening to stories has many benefits

First and foremost, stories are fun. Stories are a way that we can relive favorite moments, share lessons, and share our own ideas about how something should go.

Storytelling can enhance listening and reasoning skills as our children use both the auditory and frontal lobes of their brain to follow the plot of the story (Storm, 1999).

Listening to stories that include detailed descriptions can encourage your child to enter into an imaginary world, engaging their creativity and visualization skills.

Good storytelling can engage children in the learning process and stimulate their interest in reading (Tate, 2010).

Telling stories also has many benefits

One of my favorite things to do is to listen to the stories my children tell. While we have a two-story limit at bedtime, we are typically willing to allow more stories if my son tells one first. Sometimes he tells one and sometimes he chooses not to. Sometimes his stories are really short and sometimes they are really long. As he tells his stories, he often models them after one or both of the stories I’ve told that night. I listen to see what details he includes and his story structure. Over the last year, his stories have become much more complex and more detailed. Reading more and learning more words has definitely helped him with this.

Here are some of the benefits of storytelling:

By telling stories, we have to think about the whole idea of the story and the details that are needed to develop the story. This requires the storyteller to think through multiple elements of their story.

Storytelling can help children think through emotions, memories, or events by developing the conflict or plot of a story (Storm, 1999).

Telling stories help us to remember information. Storytelling has even been used to help children remember information that needs to be memorized. Researchers McGee and Wilson found that by linking items in a story framework, children could recall more than 90% of a list of 120 unrelated words.

Storytelling isn’t just for bedtime. We also tell stories on our way to school or waiting in lines. Storytelling is a material-free way to engage your child’s imagination while encouraging many literacy skills.

References

Isbell, R., Sobol, J., Lindauer, L., & Lowrance, A. (2004). The effects of storytelling and story reading on the oral language complexity and story comprehension of young children. Early childhood education journal, 32(3), 157-163.

Storm, B. (1999). The enhanced imagination: Storytelling. Power to entrance listeners. Storytelling, 2(2).

Tate, M. L. (Ed.). (2010). Worksheets don’t grow dendrites: 20 instructional strategies that engage the brain. Corwin Press.