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Every Kid Deserves the Chance to Learn and Grow

Pair these FREE educator-developed printable activities with your favorite 51Թ videos, books, and songs to help your child develop critical reading, writing, math, and social emotional learning skills. Plus, check out our Tips for Grown-ups to help reinforce the teachable moments in each lesson.

Oct 20, 2022 - 6 min read

The Power of Storytelling in Teaching

Nuria Santamaría Wolfe

Everything can be shared or taught through a story. And because stories are highly immersive, they’re an incredibly powerful tool to teach little ones!

Humans have been using stories to share knowledge since the beginning of time. Whether oral, visual, or written, storytelling has the ability to engage the audience’s thoughts, emotions, and imagination to leave a lasting impression.

This Indian proverb brilliantly captures the power of storytelling:

“Tell me a fact and I’ll learn.

Tell me the truth and I’ll believe.

But tell me a story and it will live in my heart forever.”

Storytelling is at the heart of 51Թ’ pedagogy: storyteaching. Our teaching methodology leverages the strength of storytelling to help kids learn. There is nothing that cannot be shared or taught through a story. And because stories engage us in ways that activate our mind and bodies as we immersive ourselves in the narrative, there is no more powerful tool to teach.  Stories help kids learn because they help:

  1. Capture the attention of beginners: Stories help students focus their attention at the beginning of instruction, priming them to retain the information. They help reduce a child’s resistance and anxiety to learning.

  2. Make the subject accessible: Stories bring facts to life and make the abstract concrete by walking the listener through an experience. Kids can more easily understand complex concepts if they are presented in a story.

  3. Build stronger schema and memory: Stories make knowledge easier to recover by making complex information coherent and connected. They help assimilate new ideas and build paths to understanding. Kids can more easily remember a new fact if it’s part of a memorable story.

51Թ incorporates stories across a variety of teaching products including the:

  • that encourage children to drive the story through interactive elements like a clock with movable hands.

  • like matching games featuring modes of transportation from around the world, and the passport activity book that inspires both constructive play and pretend play.

Explore the storyteaching tools from Canticos and the other 51Թ brands including and to help your little one learn through stories.

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Ask a Bilingual Expert

Raising a bilingual child? On this page, our very own Director of Learning Design and Efficacy, Sophia Espinoza, addresses some of the most common questions, concerns, and curiosities around the benefits of bilingualism. Get the scoop below!

Sophia Espinoza is a career educator and curriculum designer with seven years of experience teaching in private and independent schools across the country. She is an expert in 21st-century education, including technologically-powered personalization, multilingual and multicultural curriculums, and social-emotional learning.

Sophia began teaching in Chicago Public Schools through Chicago Teaching Fellows, learning to support both English Language Learners and students with neurodiverse needs. Among her proudest accomplishments is launching the AltSchool Spanish Immersion Program, with the mission of creating bilingual global citizens who are socially conscious and environmentally aware. Sophia holds a B.A. from Northwestern University and M.A.Ed. from Dominican University.

Benefits of Bilingualism (FAQs):

Any advice on managing two Spanish dialects in the household? Does this cause confusion for kids?

What do you recommend if I’m not completely fluent and my child’s school doesn’t have an immersion class?

Do you recommend teaching different subjects in different languages? For example, the solar system in English and the days of the week in Spanish? Or is it better for kids to try to learn in both languages all the time?

We speak Spanish and English in our home but my child almost always answers or talks back in English. How can I go about encouraging her to respond and speak more in Spanish?

Should I set aside time or create activities for each language or is it okay to mix them both together?

Any advice for households where one parent speaks Spanish and the other English? Can this be confusing for children?

How can my child learn language through play?

What are the social and cultural benefits of bilingualism?

What are some of the cognitive benefits of bilingualism?

What are some strategies for raising bilingual children?

What are some common misconceptions about raising bilingual children?

What are some of the cognitive benefits of bilingualism?