How many times has it happened to us that at the end of the day, when we already think our son will go to sleep, he asks us to tell him a story?
We probably remember at that time the immense world of fantasy that we accessed by listening to the stories told by our parents, and we would not want to deprive our children of that pleasure.
The importance of this practice, which has been carried out intuitively through generations, has been confirmed in recent decades by studies that have focused on the positive impact that children's stories have on the unfolding of various areas of development.
In the first place, when a father approaches his son to read him a story, he shares with him a rich moment of intimacy and affective exchange. The child perceives at that moment that all the priorities of the adult world are postponed, and that he is the true protagonist and recipient of the attention and affection of his father.
Second, storytelling provides parents with an opportunity to dramatize and convey particular messages about emotional content and about values and behaviors to their children.
The child will be able to understand this form of communication as an adult approaching his language and his needs, sharing with him the joy that the story provokes in him.
Third, most stories, especially the traditional ones like Little Red Riding Hood, Tom Thumb or Hansel and Gretel, allow the child to see their own fears and conflicts projected onto them. They conclude with a solution, with a happy ending that frees fear: the little being solves its difficulties. Order is restored, the child feels safe and satisfied again. When the child is young, these stories should be told by a very close adult. Their presence and mediation reassure him and make the anguish that the story may generate tolerable.
Fourth, stories stimulate children's fantasy. Through them they are able to imagine realities other than their own, meet unconventional beings, transgress established codes and guidelines. Little by little they are encouraged to create their own adventures and characters, this practice helping to reinforce their creative freedom and self-esteem.
Finally, the habit of telling or reading stories to children develops in them important language and knowledge skills that will allow them to build a solid foundation for their school experience. An example of this is the ability to tell us something that has happened to them around a common thread or central theme and thereby confer coherence to the story; the ability to sequence events in time (what happened first, what next); the ability to establish cause and effect relationships, and the acquisition of a rich and complex language.
Some suggestions for training child readers
- Create a reading habit. Do it every day and at the same time of day. The hours that precede sleep are usually ideal.
- Let the child feel that the fraction of time allotted to reading is important in itself. It is not good to share it with other activities.
- Enjoy with him that magical moment, and transmit that experience of enjoyment.
- Select the stories based on the age and interests of our son. In most books the recommended age of their readers is indicated.
- Give the child the possibility to choose which story he wants to be read or narrated to him.
- Help him to identify with the characters, allow him to interrupt the narration to ask or comment on something, create intrigue, let him tell the end.
- Teach by example. It is much easier for a child to become fond of reading who sees his parents read, and in whose house there are books.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Julio Enrique Correa, "The story narrated as an activated transitional object", Family Therapy, vol. 5, n 9, Buenos Aires, December 1982, pp. 147-162.
• Luciano Montero, The adventure of growing up, Buenos Aires, Planeta, 1999. Finally, the habit of telling or reading stories to children develops in them important language and knowledge skills that will allow them to build a solid foundation for their experience. school. An example of this is the ability to tell us something that has happened to them around a common thread or central theme and thereby confer coherence to the story; the ability to sequence events in time (what happened first, what next); the ability to establish cause and effect relationships, and the acquisition of a rich and complex language.