Storytelling with Kids

Swan Lake Musical Sound Book (story by Lesley Sims, illustrations by Anna Luraschi) I didn't get into listening to classical music until I was old... er 😅 and I think it was a bit of a miss in my education as a child. That's why I'm especially passionate about including music (any music! But especially classical music) in early childhood education of my own kids, and of course also in our story circles. In the BBC Music Magazine article "How can I get my child into classical music?" Hannah Nepilova explores best ways to make children interested in and introduced to the classical music. According to Nepilova, one of the best ways to do that is to listen to music while telling a story. This makes a lot of sense since typically, as caregives and educators, we already have a habit of telling stories with our kids, so adding a habit of playing music while telling a story is really easy, especially if we have a good sound book handy. Many class...

Next month is the month of the art in the school, we'll have a class about Van Gogh. Here's the lesson plan: First, a story about Vincent. Imagine a small village in Holland in 19th century. A big family of the local pastor. Strange, "difficult" oldest boy - Vincent. He loves nature and enjoys long walks around the village. He grows up and goes to a boarding school, then another. He's really miserable there. His uncle owns a famous art gallery shop with stores in the Hague, London, Paris. Both Vincent and his younger brother Theo work in the gallery stores. Vincent learns a lot about art, he also visits museums and art galleries. Vincent tries his hand in several different professions, but finally at the age of 27, decides to be a painter. Next, stories about Vincent's art. Vincent moves to the south of France. He loves the warm climate and enjoys painting outside, especially in spring and summertime. The paintings that we'll discuss in class are created t...