Storytime is potentially one of the most enriching experiences in every young child's life - educationally invaluable, socially enhancing and a great deal of fun. Modern educational theory recognises its value. Children who are fed a diet rich in stories develop better than children who don't. It's as simple as that.
Stories enable children to develop structures in their minds for understanding experience. Stories provide children with language in forms that give shape and meaning to words. The children may be unable to reproduce the language - not yet anyway - but they will recognise, appreciate and gradually learn it.
All these arguments are now appreciated at all levels of education. The importance of children hearing, retelling and role-playing stories is reflected in the early learning goals for Communication, Language and Literacy. The National Curriculum recognises stories and storytelling as playing a vital part in children's education right through primary school.
So the wheel gets reinvented. Since the beginning of human time, people have been recognising the value of storytelling for children. Parents and others have also understood that, to interest children, the stories had better be adapted to the way their minds develop. As a result, finger-rhymes such as 'Round and round the garden like a teddy bear' have equivalents in many languages. There's no surprise in that. Such stories make children laugh, and the children want them again and again because of their pleasure in being teased.
KEY SKILLS
But the world's oral traditions have recently experienced huge change. Books did not exist or were not readily available to people for thousands of years. Pictures in a story were drawn by the storyteller's words and created in the storyteller's voice and expressions. The oral tradition taught tellers how to interest children with simple, strong plots and how to keep their attention with rhymes and songs within the stories. Oral storytellers learned what the modern world often forgets with its panoply of entertainments, videos, computers and endless numbers of books. They knew the value of direct contact.
Early years practitioners are often apprehensive about their storytelling abilities but acquiring the storyteller's skills will enhance both their enjoyment of storytime as well as the children's pleasure and motivation to learn. As the curriculum guidance for the Foundation Stage reminds practitioners: 'Demonstrating the use of language for reading and writing will be through telling stories and sharing books in a clear and lively way that motivates children' (page 46).
To make storytime a satisfying experience for children and storyteller, we have to remind ourselves of some basic facts at the heart of the oral tradition:
* Stories are no good unless they engage people's attention. As well as stories which work, you need techniques to make them work (see page 21).
* Stories are for joining in. There's no point expecting everyone to sit still and look polite. When stories engage attention, they evoke response.
* Stories are about the world around us and inside us. They need their tellers and listeners to realise that they cannot be kept neatly within the bounds of storytime.
These basic facts raise practical issues.
TIMING
One is to look at when storytelling takes place. If it's always at the end of the session, there is an inevitable limit to the effectiveness of the stories, since the children then are in need of calming down, not livening up. Where such a pattern pertains, I know that, as a visiting storyteller or storytelling adviser, one of the biggest differences I can make is to suggest bringing storytime forward. Soon after children have come in and settled down can be a good time. Everyone is fresh. All staff can join in, help to involve the children and generally show that stories matter. After refreshments is another possibility.
Allowing sufficient time for storytime gives flexibility. It enables storytime to become a jumping-off point for interesting activities, such as painting pictures or story maps of stories, playing with props and role play. Such activities allow your stories to expand in the children's experience. They give the children the chance to talk about them and become the storytellers. This is especially important today when many early years practitioners find themselves in a state of despair. 'They won't talk. They can't talk.' While this is the cry, we should ask if we ourselves give the children enough purposes for talking.
Another important question is how long a storytelling session should last. The answer is as long as the majority of children are interested. However, the span of their attention will vary from about 15 minutes when children are very young to about 45 minutes for the most mature children - but not for every session.
AGES
As to whether older and younger children should take part together, people have different views. My own is that they can - and it works. Four-year-olds can act as fine role models to three-year-olds, three-year-olds to younger ones. So although big nurseries may not normally find it practicable to have mixed-age storytimes, it might be an idea for these to be planned on some occasions, perhaps when different groups have something to share, or when there is a visiting storyteller and it's a special occasion.
NUMBER
In early years settings, storytime should never be so big as to be overwhelming to individual children or the storyteller. Some adults taking storytime can handle 20 to 30 children. More is hardly ever advisable. At the other end of the scale, some children may benefit greatly from having additional storytimes in special small groups. Shy or difficult children or groups of children with special language needs may all get a lot from these extra opportunities. In one playgroup I know, there is also a special once-a-week storytime. Held in a separate room, it gives new staff a chance to try out stories without other adults present. It also gives a chance to reward particular children. Being chosen to attend is regarded as a special privilege.
INFORMAL STORIES
Of course, formal storytime is not the only kind. All of us who work with young children need to be alive to the pleasure of those sudden spontaneous storytimes when you're reading to one child, more arrive out of nowhere, and -hey presto - you've got a group around you. Besides, even when storytimes are brought forward in a session, there are benefits in having a short song and rhyme time at the end while children are waiting to be collected.
SEATING ARRANGEMENTS
While many story games and chants are fun to do in circles and circle time is valuable, circles are not ideal for storytelling. The storyteller is too near some children, too far from others and the children easily become distracted when facing each other in this way.
I like a wide horseshoe, two or three lines deep if necessary, but never so that the furthest children are hemmed in and cannot be reached easily. Children need adults to be able to comfort or hold them as necessary.
Try to focus the children towards the storyteller, not looking into big wide spaces. Maybe choose a smaller, cosier space if you have one. The book corner is not necessarily ideal. Also be aware of the sun and what is behind and next to you. I hate telling stories next to a TV or in front of a messy-looking table.
Sometimes I drape colourful cloths from my story bag over the furniture behind me, and if the children ask about them, I say the cloths come from different countries, like my stories. Sometimes they say that the cloths are pretty. It's true. Storytime should aim to please.
I don't like sitting in a big armchair. Sometimes I want to move about when storytelling. An armchair separates me too much from the children. I can't move my arms and I feel restricted when helping the children participate.
PARTICIPANTS
One last vital question is who should be present at storytime other than the storyteller and children. Many practitioners dread the presence of other adults. Yet doesn't it seem preferable to have colleagues with you - especially when you've planned the event together - than maybe to have them sitting elsewhere drinking coffee and chatting? A good way to get over the embarrassment is to make storytime the subject of discussion and training between staff members. Sharing stories and techniques is helpful and great fun.
When storytime is a sharing experience, it extends a positive message. It encourages children to know that we can all be storytellers. It can also reach out to carers. Invite parents to come in to storytime sometimes. Tell them what stories you've been doing. Or maybe involve them in preparing story bags or story boxes. Arrange a storytelling workshop for the carers or invite them to a talk on the subject. In these ways, storytime may involve a wider community in renewing and keeping alive our oral traditions. It's worth it. It's what makes us and our children truly human.