Early childhood development has a significant impact on future academic and economic development. (Mohammed S., et al. 2023). A study conducted in Ghana on reading, singing and storytelling explored the implications of caregiver-child interaction and child access to books and preschool on early childhood development.
The paper argues that narrating stories to children improves their literacy skills, creativity and problem-solving skills. Additionally, its findings found that early learning opportunities and engagements provide children with a solid foundation in vocabulary, language patterns and word sound recognition.
How do children travel to worlds they’ve never been to? The simple answer is imagination. When children listen to stories with characters and plots outside of their daily experiences, their ability to imagine them improves, as proven by Mohammed S’ research paper.
Another research paper on the benefits of storytelling on early childhood development shows that storytelling instils good behaviour and character values in children. In this paper, Farankita D., et al. (2022) prove that while most stories rely on fiction plots and characters, they carry a moral lesson that impacts their behavioural development. Also, the paper suggests that storytelling builds closeness between children and their caregivers (parents and teachers), making them feel safe, comfortable and happy, thus creating an avenue for physical and psychological development.
As we continue to embrace technology, learning resources are also becoming digitalised. As a result, Rahiem, M.D.H. (2021) emphasises that it’s time to go digital with storytelling in early childhood development. In his paper, the author argues that digital storytelling blends the traditional art of storytelling with a range of contemporary tools to weave memorable, interesting and captivating resources for young learners. The paper further shows that through digital stories, teachers can adopt innovative learning methods and create their own digital stories.
At the African Children’s Stories (ACS) Podcast, we offer a range of narratives that draw on the findings of the above papers. Our stories target teachers, parents and children to promote a reading culture while also building a bonding avenue for our audience. Our podcast not only offers stories for young children but also actively involves them in the narration process, like in this Teacher Akinyi episode. This approach allows the young narrators to build on their storytelling, reading, comprehension and public speaking skills.
Our approach aligns with current research on digital storytelling’s effectiveness in early childhood education. To this end, we aim to continuously provide resources that connect families, improve classroom experiences and advance literacy and numeracy skills among children through our stories.
References
Mohammed, S., Afaya, A. & Abukari, A.S. Reading, singing, and storytelling: the impact of caregiver-child interaction and child access to books and preschool on early childhood development in Ghana. Sci Rep 13, 13751 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-38439-5
Farantika, Dessy. “The benefits and purpose of storytelling for early childhood education.” SINDA: Comprehensive Journal of Islamic Social Studies 2.2 (2022): 122-129. https://ojs.unublitar.ac.id/index.php/sinda/article/view/497/421
Rahiem, M.D.H. Storytelling in early childhood education: Time to go digital. ICEP 15, 4 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40723-021-00081-x
Written by Faith Wanja