Nowadays, not only adults but kids spend most of their hours in front of an digital device such as tablet, television, etc. These attachment to devices are not just a mimicking of adult behaviour around them but an avenue to fulfil their emotional needs. To counter this unhealthy behaviour, storytelling can be employed as one way to engage with children where the child can expose and share their emotions and experiences. Storytelling sessions is also an interactive way to boost literacy development in children.
Narrating stories to children help to support their development in language. Children enjoy listening to different intonations, expressions, words used and the characters that they represent. Stories not only teach moral values, but also provides a platform to learn vocabulary. As they listen to stories, children are able to hear how the words are pronounced and sentence structures are constructed. Through listening, children develop their language comprehension and use in conversation with others.
The Diploma of Early Childhood Education (DECE) program in MAHSA University offers students to learn about children’s literacy when taking the Language and Literacy in Early Childhood Education module. Student are taught how to conduct storytelling sessions with children and how to choose suitable of stories according to the age of child.
Storytelling will develop children’s imagination and creative skills. It brings the content of the story as real-life to them. Children naturally love to talk, listen to stories and make up stories. It develops their curiosity in order to explore the world around them and see things beyond the obvious. At MAHSA University, students from Diploma of Early Childhood Education (DECE) are assigned to create a storybook which is suitable for a particular age group of children. They encouraged to be creative in order to make the book attractive for children to read. The creativity reflected and colourful storybooks displays the teacher’s imagination that can be a portal to unleash the imagination of the children during storytelling sessions.
Furthermore, children often face difficulties to manage certain negative emotions like anger and tantrum. By listening to stories, it may help them understand and regulate their feelings through characters, story-lines and moral values. Some of the stories especially short stories will engage them to feel relaxed and comfortable especially during bedtime stories.
Moreover, when children learn to share stories with others, it gives them a way to develop rapport and relationships. They learn to listen, understand and follow others. They also learn to adapt themselves on important things. Storytelling is an excellent way for children to get connected with others around the world, despite different language.
There are different ways to deliver stories towards children either by using books, tablets or many other ways, as long as children enjoy and feel the nature of listening and speaking. Adults may use puppet or mask to deliver the story. In addition, there is no specific time for storytelling. It can be at anytime where children might feel comfortable to listen and talk so it can take place anywhere. Most importantly, adults need to find time for themselves to spend with children. MAHSA University’s offers toward their students are not only in theory, but also in practical. Students learn to deal with real children by presenting stories to them. They get real experience with children, how to control them and understand their characters. This would definitely be a good exposure in preparing students with real life field, once they finish their Diploma in Early Childhood programme at MAHSA University.
Words by
Atiqah Binti Rohanip
Lecturer, Centre for Education & Language
MAHSA University
Atiqah Binti Rohanip
Lecturer, Centre for Education & Language
MAHSA University
