![]() ![]() We encourage all children to embrace and digest stories at their own pace, learning to retell stories from their hearts. Here at Cedarwood Waldorf School, we teach through story in this way, especially in the Early Childhood and lower grades. This method supports the unfolding of the child’s learning and understanding naturally and joyfully through human connection and the discovery of different characters and adventures through oral storytelling. Picture books, media, or other visual aids that influence imagery are not used in this process, allowing children to develop their own imagination and imagery of the story. Consistent verbal retelling can include various other mediums, including puppets, movement, and acting. Generally, the same story is told and retold over the course of a few days which helps deepen the students’ experience of the story and the lessons that will develop along with the story. In Waldorf classrooms, stories are traditionally told by the teacher. Waldorf education cherishes storytelling and in schools, conferences, and faculty meetings where you’ll find biographies, fairy tales, folk tales, fables, legends, myths, and stories from history shared with students, colleagues, and friends. For all of us, stories reshape into something more meaningful, and we are more likely to share it with others. Another benefit is that storytelling strengthens the human connection. It allows people to self-identify and problem-solve in a risk-free environment by learning how others before them have handled similar situations. From childhood, sharing stories that enhance a moral compass is a prime example of learning through storytelling. Storytelling and learning have gone hand-in-hand for good reason through enhanced imagination to help visualize spoken words, improved vocabulary and refine communication skills. Kinesthetic learners remember the emotional connections and feelings from the story.” Her research shows that in any group, learners are approximately 40% visual, 40% auditory, and 20% kinesthetic, so storytelling reaches all audiences. Auditory learners focus on the words and storyteller’s voice. “Visual learners appreciate the mental pictures storytelling evokes. Vanessa Boris wrote an article for Harvard Business Publishing titled, “ What Makes Storytelling So Effective For Learning?”, which delves into this topic of learning styles and how storytelling connects powerfully with people. How we have shared these stories falls primarily into three categories of learning: visual, auditory, and kinesthetic. These verbal recitations support all learning styles while creating bonds among people, cultures, and ideas. The art of sharing stories has existed for over 30,000 years, from the earliest cave drawings found in France, and has been a thriving oral tradition shared from generation to generation. "Storytelling is the interactive art of using words and actions to reveal the elements and images of a story while encouraging the listener's imagination," is the definition offered by the National Storytelling Network. In this way, the children’s memories are strengthened.Let us dive into storytelling and its impact on how we learn. To do this, the teacher must memorize each story. Each day, the teacher tells a story, the same one for a few weeks, in just the same way. After two or three days of the same songs, most of the kindergarteners are singing along with their teacher, who has never “taught” them a single word or note. Circle time is the activity richest in this way: the teacher sings songs and tells little stories through singing and movements which the children imitate. ![]() The teacher sings throughout the day and the children have many opportunities to sing along. Therefore, in the kindergarten, we call on the child’s natural inclination to imitate by offering lots of activities that are good to imitate and by putting the children with teachers who are good role models to imitate. At Camellia, we meet the children exactly where they are developmentally, at every age. ![]()
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