DOCUMENT RESUME ED 329 942 CS 010 495 AUTHOR Shermis, Michael, Ed. TITLE Parents and Children Together. Volume 1, Nos. 1-12. INSTITUTION Indiana Univ., Bloomington. Family Literacy Center. REPORT NO ISSN-1050-7108 PUB DATE Jun 91 NOTE 776p. AVAILABLE FROMFamily Literacy Center, Indiana University, 2805 East 10th Street, Suite 150, Bloomington, IN 47408-2698 ($7.00 per copy which includes an audiotape). PUB TYPE Guides - Classroom Use - Instructional Materials (For Learner) (051) -- Guides - Non-Classroom Use (055)-- Collected Works - Serials (022) EDRS PRICE MF05/PC32 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Elementary Education; *Parent Child Relationship; Parent Influence; Parenting Skills; *Parent Participation; *Parents as Teachers; *Parent Student Relationship; Preschool Education; *Reading Aloud to Others; Reading Materials; Talking Books IDENTIFIERS *Family Literacy ABSTRACT This series of booklets is intended for parents and children to share, reading the booklets together as they listen to the companion tape for each booklet. Each booklet (focusingon a particular topic) answers practical questions from parents,describes activities that can be used at home, notes some books for parentsand children, and contains three read-along stories. The twavebooklets in volume 1 of this series are on thfollowing topics: (1) Family Storytelling; (2) Motivating Your Child to Learn;(3) Learning and Self-Esteem; (4) Linking Reading and Writing;(B) Discipline and Learning; (6) Holiday Reading; (7) Learning Science at Home; (8) Recreation for Health and Learning; (9) Folktales for FamilyFun; (10) Learning Math at Home; (11) Stretching YoungMinds in the Summertime; and (12) Parents as Models. (SR) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best thatcan be made from the original document. *********************************************************************** A _a * 0 41k U.S. DIPMTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Researchand Improvtanent EDUCATIONAL RESOURCESINFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) gnus document has been reproducedn received from the person or organization "PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS onginating it MATERIAL. HAS BEEN GRANTED BY C3 Minor changes have been madeto improve reproduction Quality Points of view or opinions statedIn this docu- mitkaa ivvot;.4) ment do not necessarily represent official OERI Position or policy TO THE EDUCATIONAL. RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)." This booklet is meant to be used with the tape on "FamilyStorytelling." Occasionally there are direcfions on the tape that do not appear in your booklet or headings in the booklet that aren't spo- ken on the tape. - /we 1101' , J Parents and Children Together is published by the Parent Outreach Project (POP) at Indiana University, 2805 E. 10th Street, Suite 150, Bloomington, Indiana 47408-2698. 3 Table of Contents Getting Started 1 Storytelling for the Whole Family 2 Questions about Family Storytelling.. Family Activities 11 Getting Started Telling Stories 15 Books for the Family 17 Read-along Stories 26 My Sister's Scar 26 Melinda's Lamb 29 Winter 34 Bookmaking 42 4 5 Getting Started Welcome to this month's issue of Parents and Children Thgether. This issue focuseson family sto- rytelling. Telling stories aboutyour family to each other and with each other is a great way to commu- nicate with your child. Besides talking about fami- ly storytelling, we will answer some practical questions. We hope the information will help you as you work with your child. In this issue of Parents and Children Thgether there are also some activities thatyou and your child can do at home. On Side B of the tape (and in the second half of the booklet) we have three read- along stories. They are read by well-known story- tellers: Steve Etheridge, Jean Slaughter, and Jerry Burchard. We encourage you to listen to thesesto- ries and to read them with your childrenso that they can participate in the excitement of story reading. Of course,your child can listen to the sto- ries alone, if you wish. 1 Storytelling for the Whole Family Hello Mom or Dad, I bring you greetings from your friends at POP. POP is our friendly acronym for the Parent Outreach Project, a project to help parents and their children share ideas and succeed in school. Everyone likes to hear stories! Storytelling is a way of sharing ideas and feelings. It is natural fur parents and children to tell stories to each other. Some of my fondest memories of the early years with my children revolve around bedtime stories. We'd sit on the floor next to their beds and share our wonder about the world through fairy tales, our own made-up dramas, and playful stories that we created when we were in the mood to do so. Storytelling is a way of sharing feelings feelings of pleasure, excite- ment, frustration, anger, and sadness. It is also a way of com- &- municating values. Fairy tales and folk tales all have rather clear value statements. For example, later on in this booklet there a story about a town called Winter. In this town it is always cold and always winter. When the people of the town treat a peddler warmly, then summer finally arrives. 7 2 We can share things that happen during the day by telling about people and events that are important in our lives. Storytelling is informal and spontaneous. During the informal storytelling, you and your child are involved in a kind of conversa- tion that encourages speaking and listening. Whether your child asks questions or adds ideas about the story doesn't maar. You can tell from your child's face whether he is part of the action. You want an interaction between your child and yourself. One way to promote interaction is to start a story yourself and then ask your child to add an event that makes sense. You can then take turns making up a story until you bring it to a satisfacto- ry ending. This kind of creative storytelling may be more important than you think. It also builds speaking and listening skills. Storytelling helps to stimulate your child's imagination, to develop a sense of humor and a sense of selfthat is, a sense of "who I am." A good storyteller is usually a good listenersomeone who enjoys hearing stories as much as telling them. When you tell stories, you are encouraging your child to be a good listener. You, in turn, provide a model for good listening when you listen to the stories your child wants to share. Few of us ever grow too old to enjoy a well-told story. When you tell a story, it lets you have eye contactyour child is looking at you, seeing the events in the story through your voice and your action. 8 3 How delightful to see a child completely absorbed, along with his parent, in the story! Storytelling makes us feel closer to our childbecause we can touch each other and move around without worry- ing about a book. Storytelling frees our hands and eyes so that we can use voice, hands, and facial expressions to help us make the story come alive. We can use words that we are comfortable with and choose expressions and voices that fit the mood of our story. You may also want to use simple objects such as puppets, hats, shoes, or glasses to help tell your stories. Before long your child may begin to use ideas copied from your storytelling. My two youngest daughters used to playact storytelling by telling stories to each other, to their dolls, and sometimes to their friends who came to visit. Enthusiasm for storytelling can be very catching! None of us are born storytellers. It takes prac- tice. A good place to start is telling stories that are familiar to youstories about yourself when you were a child. 4 9 For example, most children love to hear about real events that happened to their parents or to other people in the family. Children also love to hear about themselves when they were babies and were not old enough to remember the stories about themselves. When children are small they enjoy being held and listening to stories. Your child may physically outgrow your lap, but none of us out- grows the warm feeling of listening to a well-told story What kinds of stories should you tell? Share stories that you enjoyed as a childeither stories you remember from a favorite book or the stories that you heard as a child. It is more important to like the story you choose to tell rather than to be overly concerned about what story you tell. Your enthusiasm naturally rises when you are telling a story that interests you. For a change, instead of reading your child's favorite stories, begin to tell them to your child. Encourage your child to add to her favorite story as it is being told. In fact, it is good for both of you to let your child be the storyteller of her favorite storiestaldngcon- trol of words, expressions, and gestures. And it goes without saying that a good story can be shared over and over. 0 5 The intimate time that you share with your child during storytelling will be a truly enjoyable and memorable time. Parents can pass down their family stories and story favorites by sharing them with their children. Make storytelling an ongoing experience in your home. If you feel more comfort- able reading a story than telling one, that's O.K. But why not try to tell a story once in a while? You may find it is a wonderful alternative tothe nightly bedtime reading that you do with your child. There are examples of storytelling on the other side of the audio tape. Have fun listening to them with your children. Carl Smith, Director Parent Outreach Project 1 1 6 Questions about Family Storytelling Everyone has questions and needs answers about the academic growth of their children.