Is there a 'play-crisis'?
With an increasing number of reports and blogs, radio interviews and statistics being published regarding children who are starting school without the basic literacy skills required to develop physically, socially and cognitively, indicating that children are starting school with limited vocabulary and eye contact, little knowledge of nursery rhymes and stories, are we facing a play crisis?
Literacy skills begin from the minute we arrive into the world, we begin our journey of communication with our first cry; literacy is not something we should simply teach, it's something we should empower and enhance!
That journey of empowerment comes from play, play is fundamental for a child to develop literacy skills and to help them understand who they are.
Here at The Story Frog we are in favour of a play revolution, we don't consider it something children 'grow out of' and you definitely won't encounter a play crisis in our sessions. We believe through play we can develop problem solvers, innovators and adaptive personalities who will be blessed with a lifetime of opportunities. Listening to stories is just one way we can enhance play and we feel is a natural progression into play. This doesn't have to be applied in a formatted way, these opportunities to share stories can come from reading a book, making up stories, relaying events, or even listening to audio books- the key is your do it together .
Listening to stories allows us to empathise, to communicate and inspire young imaginations. Reading stories becomes a journey, its helps us to understand the environment we live in, engages us in conversation, aids us with sound recognition, promotes comprehension, ignites imaginations.
As so wonderfully put by the Author David Almond,
'For a child a story naturally moves into drama, dance, song and movement!'
All of our sessions are based on a story each week, which has allowed for us to develop a theme around phonic sounds and play based activities, although, as with all play based learning there are no boundaries, the adventure is theirs-light hearted, playfulness!
The tradition of story telling has been since the beginning of time, its something we will be sharing until the very end!
If you'd like to come on a awe inspiring adventure into a world of phonics and play either by attending a class or inspiring children and parents and carers by running a class then check out our website to find out more
www.thestoryfrogphonics.com
