Oral storytelling is a rich tradition in the human race, and an important aspect of the curriculum at Rainbow Mountain. Reading stories from books is valuable, but when a someone tells a story orally something magical happens. They storyteller has no book between her heart and the children, so she is sharing openly, without any barriers. The children are not distracted by trying to see the pages or photos, nor can they rely on the photos to tell the story. This increases their listening skills and their imagination, as they create their own pictures in their heads. Oral storytelling is an important precurser to reading for very young children, as it helps them develop comprehension and plot development.
Ruth Shackelton is our storyteller at Rainbow Mountain Children’s School. She tells a story almost every day to one of the classes. Teachers often ask her to introduce a unit with a story. For example, at the beginning of the author’s unit in second grade (when students write and illustrate their own books) she tells a story about the first time humans communicated in “writing.” Her repertoire of stories is endless, and her storytelling style rivots the children’s attention. (See all eyes on Ruth in the photo above).
Research within schools has shown that the time spent on social curriculum – on team building activities, class meetings, character studies, and the like, which promote social skills—is not time taken away from academics. By training children how to get along with one another, they can actually focus better on the academic tasks they have to complete because they are less distracted by, and less anxious about relationships with their peers. At Rainbow Mountain Children’s School, we take it one step further. As a holistic school, our social curriculum isn’t an “add on.” It’s completely embedded, and it’s regarded as being at least as important as the other domains: physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual.
Remember tumbling around on the floor with your dad or having a pillow fight with your cousins? Fun, right? Well, it’s also developmentally essential, especially for boys. To read all the fascinating reasons why you WANT your son to roughhouse, click on the following NY Times blog:
There were over 20 people from Rainbow Mountain Children’s School at the Sir Ken Robinson lecture last night, and we were all inspired — actually, validated, is a better word for it. Validated to know that the style of education we have been doing for 34 years at Rainbow, is now considered visionary, cutting edge, and the direction education needs to go nationally.
One of Sir Ken’s points that really stuck with me was when he answered a question by saying, “It’s about Spirit.” He clarified that he was referring to energy. Great teachers are energized by the children and by the material they are teaching. It resonates with their spirit. They also recognize what is special about each child, and they use that. For example, a child who habitually hums would be given more singing instruction and asked to lead songs for the class.
When asked to describe the perfect school, he might as well have been describing Rainbow: A school with strong underlying structure (as Ken said “creativity can only happen within structure”) and an ability to allow both kids and teachers to be creative in all subjects.
Are you passionate about education? Would you like to see the whole educational paradigm changed in America? Despite the seriousness of this topic, do you love to laugh? Then I highly recommend you take advantage of a great opportunity: At 6pm this Wednesday, April 27, TED Speaker, Sir Ken Robinson will be at Thomas Wolfe Auditorium in Asheville. Rainbow Mountain Children’s School is an official supporter of this exciting event, and much of our staff and board will be in attendance. Tickets are $25 for adults, available at the box office or at the door. Here is one of Sir Ken’s talks. You will find his points are salient, and he is very, VERY funny. Enjoy.
The following link is a well-written blog that explains how we build self-esteem at Rainbow Mountain. Although the author doesn’t refer to Positive Discipline or The Responsive Classroom (two of the classroom management/behavior models we draw from at Rainbow), his beliefs and practices are exactly the same:
