- Jul 20, 2016
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- 20,210
I'm putting this post on this board because we have new information about the success of an old idea.
I am a story teller, and I love it. My daughter still recalls ones from her childhood (the friendly dragons), the neighborhood children like ones about the farm (another friendly dragon, wise dogs, and singing hens). Not long ago, there was a small field trip at the farm, only one leader was needed, and I did not go. However, one of the children had been there before when I was there. As the tour was ending, she took the leader to task for not telling the stories about the trees, which is what I do.
My stories often have a message - something discovered or learned. It is a non-threatening way to get an idea across.
Last night I was bopping around the internet and came across this article. Funny how these things work out, right? It delves into the idea that story telling helps mental abilities. When everyone watches the same movie or video, then they have the same idea of what a mer-person looks like (Jason Momoa) or dragons, for example.
Wait .... what ..... listening to a story helps other skills???
I can attest to this - everyone loves my dragon stories and want to hear more. Fortunately, there always is a party going on in my head, and I can come up with new adventures. Sometimes I look up at the parents' faces, and they are just as involved in wanting to hear how it all turns out.
Personal stories can show how life was in earlier times and how people experienced joys and sadness in their own lives. There is such a connection of experience and feelings.
When I was a little girl, my brother and I were sitting in the backyard looking at the stars with our grandfather. He told a story from his childhood. When he was about our age, he was sitting out on a hill at his grandfather's ranch, looking at the night sky just as we were. His grandfather told him when he was a boy on the ranch, he was sitting out with his grandfather and watching horses running in the distance. His grandfather told him to look closely because there were Comanche warriors riding on the side of the horse so they would not be seen. Whoa - that one story set off a life long interest in the American Indians.
Did you feel the family connection pull through the story like a thread?
The attached article is well-worth your time and energy. It also shares some interesting information about coma patients.
https://www.theepochtimes.com/the-mental-powers-of-storytelling_3058334.html
I am a story teller, and I love it. My daughter still recalls ones from her childhood (the friendly dragons), the neighborhood children like ones about the farm (another friendly dragon, wise dogs, and singing hens). Not long ago, there was a small field trip at the farm, only one leader was needed, and I did not go. However, one of the children had been there before when I was there. As the tour was ending, she took the leader to task for not telling the stories about the trees, which is what I do.
My stories often have a message - something discovered or learned. It is a non-threatening way to get an idea across.
Last night I was bopping around the internet and came across this article. Funny how these things work out, right? It delves into the idea that story telling helps mental abilities. When everyone watches the same movie or video, then they have the same idea of what a mer-person looks like (Jason Momoa) or dragons, for example.
The UCLA Lab School is unique because it encourages teachers to test-drive various educational techniques with a very diverse group of students. Over the past 20 years, a storyteller has come to visit the Lab School once a week. Teachers say it’s the fastest way to teach younger kids to read.
For the past 10 years, professional storyteller Antonio Sacre has provided the tales. His material spans from accounts of his own childhood to children’s classics such as The Three Little Pigs. “So I come in, tell stories to the kids, and 16 weeks later, whatever metrics they use to measure reading and writing are higher than they were before the storytellers were there,” said Sacre. “Now, the teachers work super-hard and I’m one small component in that, but it’s a crucial component.”
Wait .... what ..... listening to a story helps other skills???
This gravitational force makes a story an ideal vehicle for us to conceptualize and retain information. We can handle a bland list of bullet points, if necessary, but we would much rather hear about a character on a quest.
Modern researchers believe it’s because our brains are hardwired for narrative. Brain imaging studies have shown that specific parts of our brain only become active when we’re listening to stories. Storytelling has also been shown to trigger the release of oxytocin, a neurochemical that enhances our sense of empathy.
We’re not just passively listening; part of us gets to live the story being told. The tale may contain fictitious people from fantastic worlds doing impossible things, but once we fall under the story’s spell, we become a part of that world. “We get to see ourselves in these stories, and that’s really complicated brain work,” Sacre said. “We get to be the lion and the person being chased.”
This is why many old stories still endure: because they speak to the same dramas that still dwell inside of us. Sacre says he’s been rediscovering some of the lesser-known fairy tales from the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Anderson canons. The kids love them, and will often request that he tell more “magic stories.”
I can attest to this - everyone loves my dragon stories and want to hear more. Fortunately, there always is a party going on in my head, and I can come up with new adventures. Sometimes I look up at the parents' faces, and they are just as involved in wanting to hear how it all turns out.
Personal stories can show how life was in earlier times and how people experienced joys and sadness in their own lives. There is such a connection of experience and feelings.
When I was a little girl, my brother and I were sitting in the backyard looking at the stars with our grandfather. He told a story from his childhood. When he was about our age, he was sitting out on a hill at his grandfather's ranch, looking at the night sky just as we were. His grandfather told him when he was a boy on the ranch, he was sitting out with his grandfather and watching horses running in the distance. His grandfather told him to look closely because there were Comanche warriors riding on the side of the horse so they would not be seen. Whoa - that one story set off a life long interest in the American Indians.
Did you feel the family connection pull through the story like a thread?
The attached article is well-worth your time and energy. It also shares some interesting information about coma patients.
https://www.theepochtimes.com/the-mental-powers-of-storytelling_3058334.html