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LET’S DISCUSS THE STORIES ~ IDEAS FOR TALKING WITH KIDS

Curiosity, Creativity

1. Why do you think the children in this story were curious about what was under Mr McLattice’s hat?

2. How do you think curiosity can help us in life?

3. What is the most crazy thing you can think of, that Mr McLattice might have been hiding under his hat?!

Credits:

Bedtime Story written by David A. Miller

Illustrated by Faishal Aziz

Music Video by “Hand Trolley” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)”Olde Timey” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), “Lively Lumpsucker” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) , “Hammock Fight” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), “The Bandit” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), “Mister Exposition” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

The post What’s Under That Hat? first appeared on Bedtime Stories.

Let’s Chat About The Stories ~ Ideas for Talking With Kids

Curiosity, Conversation

1. The little boy in this story is curious about where the pebble in his shoe came from – he asks lots of questions about it. How do you think that being curious about things helps us in life?

2. What are some things that you have been curious about lately? What did you do to find an answer to your curiosity?

Bedtime Story written by Annie Besant

Bedtime Story illustrated by Jaikar Marur

Other Credits:

Music Video from zapsplat.com

A Pebble in My Shoe (English), written by Annie Besant, illustrated by Jaikar Marur, published by Pratham Books (© Pratham Books,2019) under a CC BY 4.0 license, first released on StoryWeaver. Read, create and translate stories for free on www.storyweaver.org.in

* THE STORY ‘A PEBBLE IN MY SHOE’ WAS CREATED BY PRATHAM BOOKS AND IS LICENSED UNDER A CREATIVE COMMONS -BY-4.0 LICENSE. FORMATTING CHANGES HAVE BEEN MADE TO THE ORIGINAL WORK FOR EASE OF READING ON OUR WEBSITE.

The post A Pebble In My Shoe first appeared on Bedtime Stories.

How do children learn?

By exploration: touching, hitting, putting things in the mouth.
By experimentation: testing, by trial and error.
By repetition: throwing things on the floor again and again!
By imitation: copying those around them, be they adults or other children.

What role does the adult play?

The role of the adult is to facilitate the child’s understanding of their environment: to act as a link. There is increasing evidence demonstrating the impact on child development of positive and responsive interactions with adults. Children’s openness to learning depends very much on how information is presented to them, so parents and teachers can help by creating positive environments for meaningful learning to take place.

The wonder of a curious mind

Curiosity is the engine that generates our desire to investigate and experiment. This motivation is key for setting the complex process of learning in motion. Curiosity focuses the mind so that we can give full attention to learning. This state of heightened alertness, aroused by being curious, also activates our memory circuits, and our emotional responses  (for example, desire) so that we are best primed to acquire new knowledge.

How can we stimulate a curiosity to learn?

All of us, whether we are parents, extended family, neighbours, caregivers, or teachers, can take responsibility and help our children to learn by embracing  their curiosity and interacting with them in such a way as to maximise their potential to learn.

Storyberries provides free online children’s books, and parenting tips – offering lots of ways to naturally encourage wonder, curiosity and a love of learning.

Beautiful questions!

When children ask us questions, we can encourage their curiosity to learn more by showing enthusiasm, and by answering them as wholeheartedly as we can.

Encouraging kids to look for answers

One way of doing this is to encourage the use of reasoning to come up with possible or likely answers to kids’ questions. In this way, we are teaching them to analyse facts, make logical and reasonable deductions, weigh up different possibilities, and take an interest in finding out more. 

Often we do not have a clear answer, so we can then do some more research in books (such as encyclopedias) or on the internet. In this way we are giving kids the skills to work in a similar way later when they are alone.

Being available to listen, play and learn

Children need to know that we are available for them. They want to know they can count on us and to feel reassured that someone cares about their concerns.

Creating a space to look further

Sometimes it is a good idea to respond to the child’s question by asking them a few other questions, to prompt them to think more fully and perhaps come up with an answer on their own.

Allowing kids to experiment

We can encourage kids by creating spaces where they can experiment. For example they might manipulate certain objects by taking them apart or testing them. This helps us to see the limits and consequences of our actions – for example, by learning what kinds of things can be taken apart and what happens when we do.

Get Creative!

The Internet (and books!) are full of resources to help children design and make a whole range of different things, such as electrical circuits, yummy things to eat, small greenhouses, home inventions or personal gadgets.

Read, read and read!

There are so many different books available to children – fantasy novels, graphic stories, non-fiction and biographies being just some of them. There are many alternatives for all ages. When children are introduced to a range of different books, they can select the ones that have the greatest affinity with their interests.

Set fun challenges!

By setting children challenges tailored to their interests, we can prompt their curiosity and awaken their desire to complete the challenge, which, when felt to be a success, motivates their future desire to learn.

 

Some Free Books About Curiosity for Learning At Storyberries

A Pebble In My Shoe

A delightful, and beautifully illustrated, story in which a child reflects on where the pebble in their shoe has come from – inviting a journey of curiosity and wonder.

Catch A Moon

A beautiful poetic story about two children and their heartfelt desire to catch the moon. Their curiosity is rewarded when they think up an imaginative way of doing so.

To The Top

Wordless picture books are really good for encouraging kids to imagine their own story-lines.
In this delightful picture book, a young girl opens her mind to new experiences as she and her daddy walk to the top of a mountain.

Article by Luzmery M. Romero Gamboa and Fleur Rodgers

Luzmery works in the area of clinical psychology as a psychotherapist for children, adolescents and families. Since 2016, she has run a Psychological Center in Venezuela called Psicoluz. She offers workshop facilitations to parents, is involved in recreational activities for children, and has been working as a freelancer since 2017 performing online psychotherapy. 

Fleur is a meditation teacher in France and uses a compassion and loving-kindness based approach to meditation and slow-minded living. Fleur posts regularly to Instagram @rodgers.fleur . She has two children, is a qualified teacher in adult education and is the founder of Timeouttobreathe.com 

The post Helping kids be open to learning and to trying new things first appeared on Bedtime Stories.

Let’s Chat About The Stories ~ Ideas for Talking With Kids

Curiosity, Conversation

1. Why do you think people like to explore their world?

2. If you could explore anywhere, where would you like to explore?

Bedtime story based on an original story by Giấc mơ biển xanh and written by Nhã Thuyên

Translated by Alisha Berger

Illustrated by Lê Thị Bích Khoa

OTHER CREDITS:

The Ocean Dream (English), translated by Alisha Berger, based on original story Giấc mơ biển xanh (Vietnamese), written by Nhã Thuyên, illustrated by Lê Thị Bích Khoa, published by Room to Read (© Room to Read, 2012) under a CC BY 4.0 license on StoryWeaver. Read, create and translate stories for free on www.storyweaver.org.in

* THE STORY ‘THE OCEAN DREAM’ IS PUBLISHED BY PRATHAM BOOKS AND IS LICENSED UNDER A CREATIVE COMMONS -BY-4.0 LICENSE. MINOR FORMATTING CHANGES HAVE BEEN MADE TO THE ORIGINAL WORK FOR EASE OF READING ON OUR WEBSITE.

The post The Ocean Dream first appeared on Bedtime Stories.

Bedtime story written by Annie Besant

Illustrated by Alicia Souza

OTHER CREDITS:

Sam’s Christmas Present (English), written by Annie Besant, illustrated by Alicia Souza, published by Pratham Books (© Pratham Books, 2011) under a CC BY 4.0 license on StoryWeaver. Read, create and translate stories for free on www.storyweaver.org.in

* THE STORY ‘SAM’S CHRISTMAS PRESENT’ WAS CREATED BY PRATHAM BOOKS AND IS LICENSED UNDER A CREATIVE COMMONS -BY-4.0 LICENSE. MINOR FORMATTING CHANGES HAVE BEEN MADE TO THE ORIGINAL WORK FOR EASE OF READING ON OUR WEBSITE.

Let’s Chat About The Stories ~ Ideas for Talking With Kids

Curiosity

1. Why do you think Sam so badly wanted to know what was in his Christmas present?

2. Why do you think he waited to open it?

3. Would you have waited to open it? Why or why not?

The post Sam’s Christmas Present first appeared on Bedtime Stories.

BEDTIME STORY WRITTEN BY LUBAINA BANDUKWALA

ILLUSTRATED BY ZAINAB TAMBAWALLA

OTHER CREDITS: This book was originally published on Storyweaver by Pratham Books. Copyright (c) Pratham Books 2011. Released under CC BY 4.0 License.

Music Video: “Pixelland” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

* THE STORY ‘’CHEEP CHEEP DRIP DRIP‘ WAS CREATED BY PRATHAM BOOKS AND IS LICENSED UNDER A CREATIVE COMMONS -BY-4.0 LICENSE. MINOR FORMATTING CHANGES HAVE BEEN MADE TO THE ORIGINAL WORK FOR EASE OF READING ON OUR WEBSITE.

Let’s Chat About The Stories ~ Ideas for Talking With Kids

Curiosity

1. The little girl in this story is very curious about all the sounds she hears around her. Why do you think people are sometimes curious? What can curiosity help us to do?

The post Cheep Cheep Drip Drip first appeared on Bedtime Stories.