When I was a third-grade teacher, I read The Story of Ruby Bridges to my students as often as I could, and every time it reduced me to tears. I was aware that in this story there was something precious and beautiful that touched the depths of who I am, and could do the same with my young students. This story affected me in those ways because through stories we recognize, construct, and communicate meaning.
Young children are no exception; they tell stories, although it is not uncommon to see parents tune them out or shut them down because the stories seem nonsensical. However, these children, like their parents, are simply seeking a story that makes sense of their experiences. These early stories can be as profoundly insightful as they are simple, if we will listen attentively. For children are continually constructing meaning, and the most natural way do it is through stories.
Parents are even more involved in story-telling. Whether we invent original stories or poems, watch them on television or in a theater, recite oral family histories, or read to our children, we are constantly communicating meaning. We are expressing a story about the way things really are. This is the very nature of literature, of art, and of life: to construct and express meaning. The quality of those stories we hear and tell, both in form and content, inevitably shapes the form and content of our children’s stories. They learn (or fail to learn) the art of story-telling, and the vision of what is good, true and beautiful by listening to stories.
The stories that children and parents tell, in turn, shape the stories that they create. In the life of a family, shared experiences become part of the family’s shared story - which can reach far beyond the family. For example, Ruby Bridges’ family told and embodied stories that enabled Ruby, at 6 years old, to be an instrumental figure in the history of the United States when she became the first black child to attend a white elementary school. That is the role that stories play in shaping families, society and history.
For all of these reasons, stories are the unifying thread of tumblon:
- We recommend great children’s literature to parents.
- We encourage parents to record their children’s memorable words and stories.
- We enable parents to preserve family stories in words and photos (and soon video too).
- We facilitate sharing those those stories safely with family and friends around the world.
We believe that through this service we can enrich the stories families enjoy, tell and create so that their family stories may influence the wider society like the Bridges family did.
