Monday, May 23, 2016

Telling Stories


If there is one thing I like about being a teacher it's this: the stories I get to tell. First off it's me telling stories to the kids, and then me telling stories to others about the kids.

Teachers are often thought of as magicians who make kids learn things, but the truth is often times in reverse: It's the kids that teach the teachers!

I love sharing stories with them. They are precious and seem to soak up everything we teach them. So it is important to watch what we teach them.

For example: The other day I heard a 7 and 8 year old talking politics. One of them was trashing Donald trump because "mommy said this about him" and "daddy said that about him". I cringed. Why force our logic on them at such a young age? Especially politics?

It's wise to teach them to look at the two sides of every story and make a decision off of that instead of clouding their fragile minds with decisions we've made for them.

Tell stories and let kids tell stories, and encourage them to read more books (especially ebooks). Most importantly though, encourage them to think for themselves. We need strong leaders in the future, not followers. Encourage them to explore and decide for themselves!