Stories Will Link Generations

Family Conversations and Stories Help Readers

Children who are successful readers have many stories read and told to them. They have family conversations about a wide variety of subjects including their culture and ancestors. Young children may not understand every nuance of the stories now, but they will later.

  Family gatherings provide perfect opportunities to tell about parents and grandparents growing up.  Storytelling is the first exposure to history and the stories of people they love. Most important, if family stories are passed on, they are not lost.

  One generation passes on the family’s values, morals, and religion through stories. They are family lessons of kindness, sharing, perseverance, courage, and triumph over difficulty. Some are just funny.

Grandpa and Lombardi

   Grandparents can help pass on little tips that make growing up a bit easier. One Grandpa grew up in Green Bay and took his bike to watch Vince Lombardi and the Packers practice. He watched the great team up close, but he was always careful not to use the same words Coach used or he would have his mouth washed out with soap. Lesson: Be your own person and be smart about what you say.

Telling Stories Takes Practice

   Telling stories takes a little practice. You can start with a story you know well. Perhaps your grandparents told you some stories.  Think back to an encounter with an animal, an experience you remember vividly, something funny, a lesson you learned, or a slightly scary story that turns out well. Use lots of description, sounds, moving around, and exaggeration.

  There might be a favorite book, Aesop’s fable, legend, or Bible story that teaches a lesson you want children to remember.   Another way to recall stories is to take out old family pictures and tell a story about the people. These stories are great for car trips, long winter nights, family holidays, campfires, or times when children need to settle down.

Recording

Recording Stories Keeps Family Histories

  Families can use smart phones to interview grandparents so stories and voices can live on. You can have the questions written in advance and practice with the technology. Grandparents can receive questions in advance to think about their answers.  Enlist young children to press the buttons and help ask some questions. You can start with the basics. What is your name and do you know why you have it?  When were you born? What did the family do for fun? What family chores did you do?  How has technology changed?  What were your favorite foods? What is your favorite funny family story? What were your special holiday traditions? Were there any fads while growing up? Were there any special home remedies when the family got sick? The interviews can be saved on cheap jump drives and given to family members. See grandparentsteachtoo.blogspot.com and wnmufm.org/Learning Through the Seasons.

 Photos: Fran Darling, fdarling fotos -- in Memory of Jim McCoy, The Storyteller

Helping Children With Summer Writing

Save Holiday Memories

There are many fun ways for families to help children get ready for reading and writing at school and practice their skills during the summer. The interest in self-expression through talking and drawing begins at a very early age. Young children become writers as they realize that they can use marks on a paper to stand for ideas they are thinking.

Keep Writing Materials Handy

Later children learn by copying what they see adults do.
  Families have many opportunities during the day to show that writing, either with crayon pencil or on the computer, is a valuable skill. Adults can model that ideas are written down by using letters and words.  The following activity is a fun way to help young children realize that their own ideas can be written down and read by themselves and others. You will need pencils, paper, glue, and photos of families, pets, or trips. 
Make a Picture Poster
  Find some photos of your family. Then spend some time talking about the photos and choose a few favorites. Help your child glue one or two pictures on a sheet of paper or make a copy. Leave lots of space between the photos.  Make up a simple sentence about the picture.  Using your child’s words and ideas, print the sentence under each photo.  Use capital letters only for beginning the sentence or names.  When you are finished, point to each word as you read the sentences out loud.  Hang the paper up on the refrigerator or wall for everyone to see.
Make Little Books
  If you have more time, make a little book using a photo on each page and a printed simple sentence that your child has asked you to write.  Make the printing big and clear on each page.  Staple or clip several pages together. 

Grab Family Photos

You might want to make a cover for the booklet with a simple title and your child’s name on the front like My Summer Trip by Cindy. Children can decorate cardboard or a brown paper bag.  Both are quite sturdy. Grocery paper bags can also be turned inside out and cut to the size you need.  Keep the handles on the bag.  Preschool children will enjoy carrying their special books around the house.  Read books together and add them to the storybooks you have for children to use. These also make treasured gifts.
  Talking, storytelling, remembering, reading and writing together are important activities that develop language.  Understanding that ideas can be written down with letters and words is the first step in the development of writing skill. With adults as their first models and teachers, children who experiment and practice communicating through writing at home will be successful writers in school.
Sketch: Mark Nowicki      Photos: Fran Darling, fdarling fotos 
More Ideas and Activities....See the authors’ book “Learning Through the Seasons” at area bookstores and grandparentsteachtoo.org. For more help to prepare young children for success in school see the authors’ web site: www.grandparentsteachtoo.org. Also check our audio Podcasts WNMU Radio 90; Youtube video activities; and join us on Pinterest