A woman who volunteered her time, in getting young children into loving to read, from the Newspapers, translated…
The woman in charge of the Pi-Tou Borough in Bali District, Cheng loved telling stories, she’d set up a “Children’s Story House” at the community center, bought over a hundred volumes of illustrated books, and read the stories to the local children personally, her lively body language, and being able to speak fluently in Mandarin and Taiwanese, she’d attracted the little fans of stories to immediately sign up for the story sessions for the days to follow, “I will come here to hear you tell the stories tomorrow!”
Because she’d understood, “Hearing the stories read, will make the children into readers of habit”, Cheng hoped, to start the children young in reading, she’d volunteered as the story mom nine years ago in Dakang Elementary School. She said, every time she’d gone to the schools, she’d brought along her own props, her clothes, to perform out the stories she’d read to the children, to get their attention, so they’re, living IN the stories she’s telling to them.
Cheng would also get the kids to touch those stories that interested them, like “The Hungry Caterpillar” by Eric Carle, about how a caterpillar, wanting to grow up fast, kept eating, getting more and more nutrients. The pages of fruit illustrations had holes in them, and, as she’d read, the kids touched the book curiously, and this trained the children in their fine motor movements.
Cheng also rounded up the former kindergarten’s director, professors from the universities, a total of TWELVE other story tellers like her, and, every time they’d hold their story sessions, the kids would all sit down together, to listen, many children would also bring along their puppets, their blankets too, and the grandparents who’d taken the kids to listen, would also help out in making the sound effects.
So, this woman had the whole community get involved in the story telling sessions, and this not only managed to connect the generations, but it also instilled the love of reading in children at a very young age too.
Life, the Obstacle Course 