STORIES BY CATHY: Recent Episodes
Cathy
Listening is a learned behavior. Being a good listener is a skill that can help adults and children in all areas of their lives. Multi-age stories have been selected targeting adults and students from preschool through adulthood. I’ve been telling these stories at my husband’s adult care facility to help patients who are suffering from various forms of memory loss. First, listen to the story. Next, use the simple memory enhancing techniques, that are included with each story, to check for story recall and understanding. These strategies can be used with children, as well as adults. It’s okay not to remember everything after listening to the story, you can always listen to it again for better understanding. I am a teacher, and a storyteller. I come from a family of storytellers. Some of the stories that I share, were told to me by my mother and grandmothers. These stories cover all literary genres, and have been collected from all over the world.
This story is based on Robert Strathearn Junior’s autobiographical account of what happened when he was left to clean up the old Pico Adobe in Simi Valley California. It was his job to get the house cleaned up, and ready for his family to move into, in just three days time.
This story is appropriate for all ages.
The Strathern family was one of the earliest and most prominent families in early Simi Valley history. Robert Strathearn and his wife Mary Gray Lamb Strathearn, purchased 15,000 acres from the El Rancho Simi land grant in 1889. In 1892, they built a Victorian-era farmhouse in front of the Pico Adobe. The two buildings were connected which provided additional space for Robert, Mary, and their seven children.
The Simi Adobe and Strathearn House are part of Strathearn Historical Park and Museum which is open to the public daily.
Sisters, Janice Dixon and Joyce Michelsen, talk about how Christmas was celebrated in December of 1940, and how everything changed that year when their father was killed. Christmas of 1941 had some unexpected and memorable surprises for the family.
This story is a fun autobiographical story that happened to my family when my kids were much younger. It is now a part of our family’s history. This story has been enjoyed by all ages.
When dad and mom surprise the family with a brand new blue mini van, the family is flabbergasted when they find a colony of bees living on the back window of the car the very next morning.
Using words like first, second, next, and finally, verbally recall the key elements of the story. This can also be done in a one paragraph quick write. A drawing can be made based on a favorite part of the story. Researching bee facts is a great way to extend this story.
This is a story for preschool to early elementary age children.
Extended learning activities could include; having the child draw a picture of their favorite part of the story, draw the beginning, middle, and end of the story, or have the child tell you the story in their own words.
Henry is a young man who wiggles himself to sleep every night. His mother warns him that if he doesn’t stop rolling and kicking when he goes to bed at night, he might have a visit from the Belly Button Snatcher.
This story is recommended for older elementary students and up. It’s a true family story, that was first told to me by my mother-in-law, Dorthy. Jim’s brother’s, Oscar and Jack, and Oscar’s wife, Cheryl, helped me with many of the details. My husband was to young at the time to remember much.
In the Fall of 1955, the Will family suffered a tragic loss. This story tells of how the kindness of others helped Dorthy, and her five boys, have a sweet, and memorable, Christmas.
The underlying themes in this story are kindness, and compassion.
Have the student write two paragraphs. The first one should be about how they were kind to another person, and how it made them feel. In the second paragraph, have them write about a time when someone was kind to them, have them include their feelings at that time.
Younger children can draw pictures instead of writing.
When a king decides to retire, he’s not sure which of his three sons will be the next king, so he sends them out into the world to find three different things. The son who does the best will be the next king! This story tells us about the youngest son, who finds himself in a kingdom of the cats.
“The White Cat,” was written in the late 1600’s by Countess d’Aulnoy, who was a French writer. It was one of my Grandmother’s favorite stories, which she loved to tell both her children, and grandchildren. This story has changed over the years with each storyteller personalizing it for their audience.
Story recall is an important technique in showing what a child remembers. After listening to the story, have them retell it to you. What was their favorite part of the story, who was their favorite character. If they need to listen to it again, do so. All of us benefit from listening to something more than once. This is a story that could use a new ending! Have some fun with it, get ridiculous, rewrite how the story ends.