REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL WOOLLAHRA NEWSLETTER
Dee’s Message
16 September 2022
Dear Parents and Caregivers, Albert Einstein once emphasised the importance of storytelling for young children in this way: “If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them fairy tales.” Research has proven over the years that stories have the power not only to develop a child’s imagination and creativity but also to impact their intellectual and emotional intelligence. However, just as important as listening to stories is for young children, so too is it for them to create their own stories. As children grow older, they become increasingly aware of the difference between reality and fiction (although, as a real treat, that division sometimes becomes wonderfully blurred and they are able to slip away into entirely ‘real’ worlds far beyond ours!). Listening to stories, whether in school or at home, opens the door to the creation of their own stories. Whether based on events and people in their own lives, or on the
characters they have heard about in other stories, or even ones entirely made up, they develop a gift of their own to conjure their own stories. And what wonderful adventures they turn out to be! Friedrich Froebel, the German educator commonly regarded as the ‘father of kindergarten’, heavily influenced Loris Malaguzzi, who initiated the Reggio Emilia approach to early childhood education. His view of children was that they are unique, competent and capable, and this we see playing out in the act of storytelling. As the children mimic what they have heard adults do and say while reading a story, so they are taking ownership of the storytelling process for themselves. Their own creativity is set free, as they imagine characters, events and places beyond their own lives. We as adults can support them in this process of creating their own stories by providing a warm and supportive environment in which they can explore their own fictional worlds.
REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | WOOLLAHRA NEWSLETTER
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