telling tales

(Zoo Boy enjoying an exhibit at our local children's museum.)

I wanted to talk a little bit about the Enki Education curriculum stories and how they are used (or more specifically, how we are using them), and why they are used in that way. Most of the academic content in the curriculum is introduced via story or verse, but taken at face value, the stories themselves, at least at the Kindergarten level, may seem like any other story. It's the process of introduction, allowing absorption, and then incorporating the concepts into their lives (which is referred to as the three-fold process) that makes them more than just another tale.

At the Kindergarten level, this process includes simply telling the story at the beginning of the week, then letting it "rest" or "sleep" with them throughout their play and the rest of their day/night, then telling it again the next day, and at least once more during the week. Some families tell the story 4 or 5 times. Typically, our family does it 4 times. The time between tellings is the time the story "rests" with the child, and this gives their brain time to absorb and interpret the content, and their understanding grows -- you start to see themes from the story coming through in their pretend play by the end of the week. The next week, you start a new story. The process is similar with 1st Graders, although in that case, the child is involved in the recall process of the story, and activities supporting the story content are undertaken (so it's a much more involved, methodical process as the child is developmentally ready to handle it).

For the Kindergartner, it's all about open intake -- they take in the story and are allowed to process and incorporate it on their own. It's a really important thing -- NOT explaining a story to them. Allowing their brains to think, pulling the threads of the story together on their own, finding a use for it in their own play and lives.


(J playing in the same museum exhibit.)

There are three kinds of stories in the Enki Kindergarten curriculum (well, actually, there are four). These are Folk Tales, Fairy Tales, and Nature Stories. (The fourth kind is instructional, but there are only a few of these, which are used in painting and hand-craft activities.) The emphasis in story selection is to make sure the content is meeting the children where they are at developmentally -- younger Kindergartners need simple tales that promote safety and security in their environment, which Folk Tales provide.

Older Kindergartners who are ready to venture out a bit need stories where the main character ventures forth on an adventure, and then returns to a home that is unchanged. In full fairy tales, the characters' homes are typically destroyed and they need to find a new home, or they are somehow changed themselves (they become a prince, etc). That's too unsettling for a child who is still desiring a firm home base (although perfect for a first grader taking forays into independence!), so Enki Education modifies the fairy tales and provides quasi-fairy tales for Kindergartners, where the adventure happens, but the character returns unchanged to his home. Because Fairy Tales require a child to listen with a less literal mind (otherwise the monsters and events would be quite frightening!), it's important to monitor when the child is ready for that sort of listening.

The Nature Stories are the Science component of the Kindergarten program -- they reflect the processes of the natural world. We read the stories that are appropriate to the season, as that is when they are naturally supported by our nature walks and outings and seasonal activities.

I was surprised at how readily my kids took to having stories told to them. After only having used picture books for years (which is what is appropriate for pre-schoolers, by the way, so I'm not trashing picture books by any means -- in fact, we still use them!), I was uncertain if my kids were ready for the longer, wordier stories with no picture support. But this is a very important step in development, the ability to rouse your own images in your mind to illustrate the story for you. And I can tell my kids are "getting it", by their response to the story while I'm telling it, by the questions they ask afterwards (which in general I purposely don't answer, as I want them to discover their own "truths" about the story -- I don't ignore them either, by the way, but I'll respond with a "Hm, I wonder" or "That's a good question!"), and of course by seeing the themes come out in their pretend play, all of which grows stronger as the week passes. (In fact, usually they are still working on themes from the week before until about half way through the new week's cycle.)

Right now we're working just with the Folk Tales, with a Nature Story sprinkled in here and there as appropriate. My kids aren't ready for the quasi-Fairy Tales yet, but as the year progresses I'll be looking for signs that they are ready to move on. If anyone is looking for examples of the sorts of stories we are using, here are a couple picture-book versions of the stories we're telling (the versions I'm telling are provided by Enki Education and are modified to best meet the young child's needs -- lots of repetition in the story, and rich descriptive language -- but the basic tale is the same): "The Name of the Tree", a Bantu Folk Tale retold by Celia Baker Lottridge, illustrated by Ian Wallace; "The Gigantic Turnip", a Russian Folktale retold by Risako Uchida, illustrated by Churyo Sato. And some of the stories we're using don't have corresponding picture book versions. Once you get the hang of what you're looking for in a story from the developmental perspective, it's even possible to modify stories on your own for use with the curriculum (I've already done that once this year, and have another one planned in a few weeks).

The Enki materials suggest introducing the picture book version of the stories, if you want to (it's certainly not required), a week or two after telling the Enki version of the story orally. Basically, you just leave the book out where the kids have access to it, and let them explore it and discover it's the same story on their own. I really thought that was a great idea and planned the stories I wanted to use around those that have picture book versions, thinking that my kids could use that added support. But interestingly, my kids haven't had much interest in the picture books. Oh, they'll look through them, read them, recognize the stories, but they seem to vastly prefer the oral versions of the stories that I'm telling them. That came as quite a surprise to me, and is very reassuring that we're on the right path with this curriculum.