[Go Back]

Reading   in community

Preparation
Date:11.15
Location: Lujiang Building Fifth Floor Meeting Room
attended by: Hsia-chi Wang and twenty others
Recorder: Hsia-chi Wang
the meeting:
1.
It was A-fu’s dream to build a story castle for the children. Currently there are a few story-telling volunteers in A-fu’s bookstore who tell stories at evening. The children are divided into three groups by age, one covers the age from 1 to 3, one from 3 to the Grade three of elementary school, and the other is from Grade three to Grade six of elementary school. The book club operates from Monday to Friday. The story-telling mothers are making their contribution to the community, helping A-fu to realize his dream.
2. Questions toward the story-telling mothers
 The teacher asked us to come up with questions. After discussion, our questions are:
1. Have you ever had any unforgettable experience?
2. Why do you come to A-fu’s bookstore to tell stories?
3. When do you come to fu’s bookstore to tell stories?
4. When was the Story-telling mothers’ group founded at A-fu’s Bookstore?
5. What do you do in the Book Club?
3. Confirm the time and interviewees
We decided to visit A-fu’s Bookstore at seven o’clock in the evening of November 30. We also confirmed the interviewees and the items we need.

Process

Date:11.18
Location: A-fu’s Bookstore
interviewee: The story-telling mothers at A-fu’s bookstore
Attended by: Hai-wen Hsu and seven others
interview:
Self-introduction by the story-telling mothers
Mrs. Wang: I am Mrs. Wang, I have a 2-years-old child
Mrs. Cheng: I am Mrs. Cheng, I have two children, one is in Grade Three and one in Grade One
content:
1. Why do you come to tell stories in A-fu’s Bookstore?
Mrs. Cheng: I think it is because of my destiny!
Mrs. Wang: Originally I was telling stories to my own children. But gradually many children come to A-fu’s bookstore to listen to me, so I became a story-telling mother by accident.
2. Have you had any difficulty when you tell stories?
Mrs. Cheng: Sometimes the children are not interested in my story. So I have to find out why, have I not expressed myself clearly or the story is not interesting at all. It is very important and difficult to pick a suitable story for children of different ages.
Mrs. Wang: Sometimes the children are too young (about two years old) to sit quietly. So I have to interest them with something they are familiar with.
3. Why you tell stories only to small children instead of older ones?
Mrs. Cheng: Listening to stories is a habit. I wish the children to form the habit from early age. So I tell stories only to small children.
4. Have you had any unforgettable experience in A-fu’s bookstore?

 Mrs. Cheng: A few years ago when my little daughter was only two years old, she played in the bookstore and spilled water on several books. She was so scared that she cried. However, A-fu’s wife was so kind to comfort my daughter and did not ask for compensation for the damage of books.

5. Do you think your children’s language skills have any improvement?
Mrs. Cheng: Sure they have. Once my two-year-old child did something wrong. I was very angry and said:” I am a fire-spitting dragon, now I want to spit fire ball toward you!” I posed like a dragon in the book. My child immediately knew he did something wrong and smiled at me.
6. In your opinion, what could the children learn from the painting books?
Mrs. Cheng: It is not only the improvement of language skill. It is more important that children take pleasure in reading. That’s why we want to be the story-telling mothers.
7. The teacher asked: how about the operation of story-telling mothers’ group in A-fu’s Bookstore?
Mrs. Cheng: The book club in A-fu’s Bookstore is divided into three groups by age. There are ten teams for children from 1 to pre-school age, each team has ten families. One group for children from Grade One to Grade Three, and one group for children above Grade Four.

My ideas
Reporter: Jie Lan
 After interviewing two story-telling mothers, I found that it is not an occupation at all. They are volunteers with love toward children, willing to sharing their spare times with children, reading stories and improving their language skills. The owner of the bookstore is also very kind toward the children. 

[Go Back]