Stories as Subliminal Education

https://www.amazon.com/Semitic-Tales-Accidental-Hebrew-Christians/dp/B01KIR0UKE

Teachers can lecture, yell, threaten, and swat, but curiosity remains the best teacher. Bedtime stories rank highest among children. When the stars come out and children let their learning defenses down, parents are in the presence of a receptive mind. No other teaching method delivers so much, from so little effort.

Parents: this is your chance to wind down, share a simple story that puts a face, or provides a description to an otherwise shapeless fear. Smart stories provide resolutions for problems, previously undefined, unexpressed, and unresolved. For generations, stories have helped children find confidence despite living in a chaotic world.

Parents can use audio stories to increase their children's language development. Traditional reading causes some parents more concern with their reading than their child's learning, a noble goal, but not optimal for children’s language development. Such reader-based behavior causes fewer questions from the child. Audio books allow parents to watch their child’s face instead of concentrating on pitch, pace, and emphasis. As a fellow listener, parents can pause and answer their child's questions, explain words, or share thoughts.

Hearing a wider range of words is important for a child’s comprehension. For example, a parent reading a story about farm life can use the occasion to explain how each animal contributes to the success of the farm. That is just a small step away from comparing how each member  contributes to the success of their own household. Don’t forget to explain Fido’s role. Shared book reading does more than improve language skills; it also provides context for developing narrative skills, that is, explaining goal-directed actions. Children learn to recognize and empathize with characters’ feelings.