By John Walsh
Moody Publishers
www.moodypublishers.com
820 N. LaSalle Blvd.
Chicago, IL 60610
800-678-6928
This is one of those resources that would be easily passed over as irrelevant for most homeschoolers. Storytelling? Who needs to take a course in that? Pick up this 180+ page softcover book and the set of six workbooks and answer key that accompany it and within a few pages you will find an application in your home and school.
Mr. Walsh begins with some background on himself. He grew up with a severe speech impediment that brought him no end of shame and embarrassment. And yet God called him to preach. He was sure God had made a drastic error. But when he got up to preach with his pastor's blessing, he spoke for 25 minutes without stuttering once, and he was hooked. But that was the one and only time that ever happened. He still stutters when he speaks, and he speaks publicly all the time. He began to see that people remember stories, and they forget about everything that surrounded it. Perhaps this fact is why Jesus taught so often using stories. As the world continues to change and becomes more media-driven and with so much more input from a variety of sources, people have discovered this memory device and made good use of it. He feels that the Christian community has lagged behind in this, which has been a contributing factor to the decrease in Gospel understanding in society. Also, most of the world comes from an oral, not literate, background, which makes use of stories to pass down information, traditions, and meaningful cultural data. American society has operated primarily as a literate culture for many years, but it slowly reverting back to a secondary illiteracy as children are taught not to read and think, but to listen and watch.
Mr. Walsh walks through the process of learning to tell a good story in order to communicate important information effectively. He discusses where to find stories, how to make the story unforgettable, how to end a story well, and how to use tools that will enhance storytelling. There are a variety of applications for this curriculum in a homeschool setting. A homeschool mom who is frustrated by her children's lack of retention of her carefully planned lessons would benefit greatly from studying this material to learn how to make the lessons come alive to her children. Students who are preparing for service or ministry would be well advised to study this book as a tool for future ministry. I personally found it very helpful for a ministry I am involved with in Africa, working with women who are largely uneducated and illiterate and prefer oral methods of learning. Add the workbooks to your course and you have an easy elective for high school, with many practical applications. I recommend this resource to anyone who wants to improve his or her communication skills.
Product review by Kim Kargbo, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, February 2010
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