This holiday activity can make kids smarter

The famous American children\’s literature writer Ursula LeGuin said: \”Some great civilizations did not invent the wheel, but there has never been a civilization that did not tell stories.\” Storytelling has been a part of human life for thousands of years. From the time babies are babbling, they begin to use simple sentences to describe past events, such as \”The cookies are gone.\” Before going to bed, do your children ask you: \”Dad, tell me a story about when you were a child. When did you meet your best friend?\” Most parents already know how to tell you a story about your childhood. The importance of reading bedtime stories to children. Many foreign hospitals, schools, TV and even bus advertisements are promoting this point of view. Reading with your child every day can help enhance his language skills and broaden his horizons. Starting reading from a young age can foster a lifelong love of reading. Research published in Science even shows that reading literature can enhance the ability to understand the emotions and mental activities of others. Yeah, reading with kids certainly sounds good. However, unlike the warm picture of holding children and reading books together in their imagination, in real life, some parents feel that reading with their children is a laborious task because they did not like reading when they were young. In addition, for some particularly lively children, sitting down to read with their parents is simply a torture and not pleasant at all. We are here to introduce a new method of parent-child reading to parents, so that even children who don’t like reading can fall in love with it. This approach is all about telling family stories. This type of story has many similarities to reading. Research over the past 25 years has shown that when parents tell their children family stories, especially when they describe them in detail and answer their children\’s questions, children reap many benefits. For example, if parents reminisce about daily activities with their kindergarten children, one or two years later these children will have richer language and more complete sentences when talking to adults. At the same time, these children develop a deeper understanding of the thoughts and emotions of others. These abilities can help children understand complex reading materials and get along well with others after school. By preadolescence, children who discuss daily life and family history with their families often feel more confident and have a better sense of themselves. By adolescence, children who knew more about their family history had a stronger self-identity and better ability to cope with problems, and they also had lower levels of depression and anxiety. Family stories can help children feel closely connected to their family. Some research also shows that learning about one\’s ancestors and their stories can make children more adaptable and resilient when faced with difficulties. Family stories can also help children understand themselves better. When you\’re a kid, you think you\’re the best in the world and the world revolves around you. Telling family stories can help children realize that they are just part of a wider world, a link in a chain. Therefore, family stories can not only provide children with a sense of identity across time, but also help children better understand themselves in this world. Apart from this, there’s another benefit to telling children about family history: It’s a great way to get them interested in history. For example, if a child learns that they are distantly related to a famous person, they will be very interested in that person\’s history. In this way, children will feel closer to history and feel that people in the entire country are their own family. That’s the beauty of family stories. It can broaden children\’s horizons and make them more deeply aware of the interconnectedness between people. When children discover that all nationalities and races are closely connected, it becomes difficult to hold onto nationalistic and narrow-minded ideas. What’s even better about family stories is that they can be sourced from anywhere, anytime. You can share your day, your children\’s day, or your grandparents\’ stories with your children without opening a book. If bedtime stories have an age limit, then family stories can be told from childhood to youth, becoming a part of parent-child relationships and daily interactions. No matter what culture and environment they are in, every family has a story to tell. Children can learn a lot from stories about even difficult times – as long as they are at their level of understanding and teach them some useful lessons. In other words, your kids might learn more if you\’re willing to share your less-than-glorious family history with them candidly. Whether it\’s the glorious history or the bad past, children can grow up while listening to stories. Through family stories, children can learn to avoid making the same mistakes as their ancestors. In addition, they can also understand that they are not alone, but part of a big family. The holidays are a prime time for parents to tell family stories. During family dinners, you can share old times with your children. Whether they are funny bits, sad bits, glorious or unforgettable bits, they are all stories that are beneficial to children. You can invite others to tell stories too. Don’t ignore the elderly and children among parents. Although their stories may be incoherent, they are the most real and thought-provoking. So share your story generously and your children may remember it for a lifetime.