I am so excited to finally be getting out this, my first newsletter! I would love your feedback as to what you like or don't like about it as well as any suggestions, comments or questions you might have. If you have a question for the "ASK VERA" section I welcome those as well and will answer them here as best I can. Please email me at vera@readingwings.com.
I am sending this out to my lists of email addresses that have been collected throughout the past years when I have been speaking or doing workshops. Friends have also agreed to forward it to their subscribers list. If you do not wish to continue to receive this newsletter you can unsubscribe at the bottom of this page.
I have met many of you personally through my workshops, consults or parent evenings. Those who don't know me can learn more about my work on my web sitewww.readingwings.com . Thank you for your time and I hope you will find some nuggets of gold here that can help transform not only your life but those around you as well!
All the best,
Vera
WE GROW WHEN WE NOURISH OTHERS
This newsletter will:
• Tell stories that entertain, educate and appeal to people in all walks of life
• Suggest ways to improve communication skills
• Promote the ability to read with understanding
• Encourage you to write and speak with more clarity
• Provide insights into life and learning
• Report on Vera's activities and her Simply books
LITERACY THROUGH STORYTELLING |
I was invited out to dinner recently where one of the elderly guests told the story of her encounter with a handsome, young policeman. She was on her way home from exercise class when her car started to sputter. A glance at the gas gauge told her she was in trouble. She began to talk to her car, to coax it to keep going - just until she could get to the gas station that was in sight. Despite her pleadings, the car conked and she found herself sitting crossways to the oncoming traffic.
What should she do? As luck would have it, an unmarked police car pulled up and a handsome policeman, accompanied by a vibrant young policewoman, approached her car. Soon another car pulled up, lights flashing. Erna was the center of attention. When the officer asked to see her driver's license she realized that she hadn't brought her purse. But then she remembered that she had wrapped her license in a $20.00 bill and stuck it in a pocket. As she unfolded the money, she discovered her Visa card! This was too much! Everyone began to laugh. All's well that ends well and the incident ended with the officers pushing Erna's car to the gas station.
I have recounted Erna's story but you will not find it as humorous as did the guests at the dinner party. The secret was in the telling. Erna would be the last to identify herself as a gifted storyteller. But she is! Her ability to keep us in suspense through the telling of the details, and her enthusiasm and uncontrollable laughter as she relived the experience, was priceless.
Storytelling is the glue of humanity. It is in telling and listening to stories that we participate in what it means to be human. When we are not a part of storytelling, we can become ill. The loneliness and depression suffered by many people is often simply not having anyone with whom to share stories.
Could it be that it is storytelling that keeps us sane? We achieve focus, decide who we are, where we want to go and what is important by the stories we tell to others and to ourselves.
What is therapeutic counseling? It is having someone who will listen to our story and help us make sense of it and show us how to create a new story with more satisfactory outcomes.
Erna's story about running out of gas was especially entertaining but each of us at the party told stories. Through story we got to know and appreciate the variety of interests and accomplishments of each guest.
The young learn by watching the behaviors and listening to the talk of the adults in their lives. Anything that makes you more knowledgeable and your life richer will enhance the lives of all those you influence through your stories.
In this newsletter I want to be a bearer of tales. I will tell stories around the people I meet, the books I read, and my experiences with life, both past and present. The focus will be to build interest in, and skills for, reading, writing, speaking and learning. They are, after all, simply storytelling.
Many parents tell me they have difficulty choosing books to buy for their children. I will introduce one or more books in each newsletter, some for children and some that may be of interest to you as an adult. You will be asked to express opinions in a Blog that can be accessed by clicking on
I want to begin by recommending a book I have been re-reading for 27 years, The Little Prince, by Antoine de Ste. Exupery. This book, originally written in French, is over 60 years old. Its message is timeless; the essentials are invisible to the eye.
The little prince leaves his asteroid and visits the earth to learn to understand himself. When he arrives on earth, he lands in a desert where he meets an aviator whose airplane has crashed in the desert. The story of the little prince's search for understanding is told by the aviator. On his way to earth the little prince visits a variety of neighboring asteroids each inhabited by an individual whose life story emerges as they converse. As you follow the adventures of the little prince, a beautiful picture is painted of the invisible things that are the most important qualities that will enable you to live a satisfying life.
This is a great book for adults and is also a perfect read-aloud to share in a family or classroom. It is short read that is universally cherished by children and adults alike.
I recently received the best gift ever from the Calgary French School in appreciation for work I did with their teachers. They presented me with a hand-made, limited edition of The Little Prince in the original French language. Well-known Quebec artists painted special pictures for it. It's so beautiful! I will always cherish it.
I begin this newsletter with a review of my favorite book because it exemplifies what I want to do when I visit you each month. I want to point to the invisible qualities that can make each individual's life story as rich and pleasurable as possible.
A feature of the newsletter will be a question and answer column. I have created a question and an answer for this first issue and I am requesting that you send me your questions for subsequent newsletters.
Question: HOW CAN I IMPROVE MY CHILD'S ABILITY
TO TELL A STORY WELL IN
CONVERSATION WITH OTHERS?
Answer: There are two extremes in storytelling, those who tell their story with too much detail and those who give only the facts.
Children (and adults too!) who make their stories too long may find people moving away from them. When your child tells you a story that is too long and you are alone with him say something like this.
“What a great time you must have had. I wonder if we could work together to make your story a little shorter. A lot of people don't have the time, like I do, to listen to long stories. What do you think are the most important parts of the story? OK now. Tell me what happened again, emphasizing these parts and leaving out details that aren't really necessary.”
This may be seen as dampening his spirit but I know from experience that you will do your child a BIG favor if you help him listen to himself and learn to recognize when he is talking too much in a group.
For the child whose story is too short, listen for something that she could enlarge on and identify it. Ask a question like, “Where did you and Alice search for your information? Were there other children who helped you?”
Teaching children how to converse simply and clearly will serve them well through all of their lives. Here are some sample questions that will help to bring focus to a story. They apply to both writing and speaking.
• What is it about your story that is most important to you?
• For others to really understand your story, what else would they have to know?
• What are some special words, feelings or sounds that would make your story more interesting?
My new book Simply Write! is full of ideas and activities that will help both you and your children become better storytellers both in conversation and in writing. You can order it by clicking on www.readingwings.com
Thanks for subscribing to this newsletter. I hope it will enrich your life and help you to tell more informed stories. Please forward it to a friend who might enjoy sharing stories with us.
To purchase my new books "Simply Read!" or "Simply Write!" please click here
or click
on the Online Store button at the top of this page. Have a look around
my new
web site while you are at it at www.readingwings.com
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