Narrating a story to young children paves the way for these tiny tots' cognitive and emotional growth to a large extent. Children get acquainted with the vocabulary, widens their imagination, and improves their communication and interaction with the outside world. Eventually, this increases their memory capacity and retention abilities as their concentration level also surpasses in the long run. All the stories should be structured coherently to get the desired effects. J.K Rowling's quote, "There is always room for a story that can transport people to another place," is indeed praiseworthy. The points mentioned below exemplifies the reason why storytelling is vital to young children.
Imbibes cultural values
The art of storytelling infuses a solid cultural root in the young innovative minds as traditional tales enrich the cultural heritage of these energetic minds bubbling with enthusiasm. Hence, these stories focus not only on morality, but it is thought-provoking also. By listening to these stories, children learn to respect their cultural heritage as it infuses in them the spirit of ancient values and traditions.
Arouses curiosity
When a story is narrated, children tend to put forth a series of questions that make them think logically about all situations and circumstances of life. By pinpointing the images, the visualization capacity of the children widens, and this assists them in soaring up their imagination. Today's fast-paced visual media blocks the intellectual and mental development of the child, and these stories make them more active and stronger emotionally.
Enriches vocabulary
While listening to the stories, children learn the correct tone, pronunciation, pitch, and this assists them in increasing their vocabulary skills. Continuously listening to other's stories will automatically stimulate reading habits in these toddlers. After listening to these stories, they will inculcate the habit of reading and writing in them. They also learn to present ideas clearly without inhibitions. In fact, they learn to speak effectively and also to articulate each word clearly with correct pitch tone and intonation.
Learns social interaction
Children learn to interact with others through the art of storytelling. Stories that are told with gestures and appropriate body language increase their understanding of the people around them. Social behavior and interactive skills to cope up with society are learned through these interactions. While sitting in groups, they learn to evaluate the feelings of others and be more responsive in real-life situations. This promotes a new bonding in their relationship with peers and adults, and they learn behavioral traits. It breaks up barriers between each other, and they learn to understand each other better.
Makes learning easier
The first step before academic learning is the art of storytelling. The concentration, power, and focus required before stepping into a school are easily attained by listening to stories. The entire learning process in a school is made more accessible and more effective beforehand by lending ears to thought-provoking stories. By getting acquainted with these stories at a very early age, sitting in the classroom and listening to teachers become an interactive session and not a monotonous one.
In a nutshell, storytelling is a tool used for sharing ideas, thoughts, and values, and the listener interprets the message conveyed by gestures of the speaker. Effective communication is an essential requirement in the process of storytelling. Creating a favorable disposition in these young minds can motivate them to listen to these stories. No wonder storytelling is a process that involves listening, perceiving, comprehending, assessing, and finally responding.