Before we talk about story telling, I want to thank you for the profound work you do every day. The love you're pouring into each small person amplifies into the world and we can all feel it. I see you in the grocery store and the park.
I see the encouragement, the tenderness, the patience and the love. It warms my heart.
It reminds me of raising my own daughter, and how my mother raised the six of us girls. From my earliest memory, there were stories. Mama told us stories to entertain us and to comfort us.
And to keep us quiet during dinner.
When there was entirely too much talking and not enough eating (always), she only had to utter "once upon a time" and a hush would fall over the kitchen table as we waited for the words that followed.
Stories are powerful things.
They form the very fabric of who we are and who we become. They help us make sense of life. They teach us to communicate and develop our social, emotional and cognitive abilities.
They help us understand ourselves and others. They help us cope, inspire us and give us a shared culture in our families and communities.
From them we learn empathy, courage, and problem solving. Stories enrich us, guide us and help us remember.
Learning to create and tell stories helps us to work through problems and aspire to heroic ends.
Stories are joyful, fun, delightful and draw us closer to each other. I love, love, love stories and storytelling.
I've told stories my whole life, to myself, my sisters, my daughter, my nieces and nephews and to classrooms full of children.
And you know what? There are still so many stories waiting to be told and so many children to hear them.
So I've created Storytime With Aunt Janie, a place where you can bring your children to hear wholesome, entertaining stories.
My stories are founded in the twelve principles of love, joy, forgiveness, truth, humility, servanthood, stewardship, simplicity, peace, honor, family and generosity. They're original, so not found anywhere else. Some may end up as books, but I'll let my listeners tell me if that's what they want.
My vision for this "show" is to provide homemade storytelling for children, ages 4-9, although I've had younger children listen in and older children hang around to hear, so all are welcome.
There are coloring book-style drawings you can download for each story, so your children can color along as they hear the story if they wish. I know my daughter was a very active person, and drawing or coloring helped her concentrate on what she was hearing.
There are also questions and prompts to use if you're a teacher or homeschooler.
I'd love your feedback! Let me know which stories your children enjoy the most, leave a comment in Facebook group, or message me if you like. Many of the stories will be serial stories - multiple episodes with the same characters.
I love to take suggestions from the children and weave them into storylines, too, so if they have some, please let me know.
Thank you so much for joining me in the Storytime Membership with Aunt Janie. If you're here, you're my family, my friends, my supporters, my rocks. I adore you.
It's an honor and a privilege to serve you and your children,
Wishing you fantastic journeys and happy endings always,
Jane Sanford ("Aunt Janie")
P.S. The Storytime Membership has a private Facebook Group for parents, teachers, and grandparents. It's where we can hang out together, you can tell me how your kiddos are liking the stories, share the pictures they're drawing and questions they have for me. I love to answer their questions directly during Storytime With Aunt Janie's Q&A sessions. You'll get an invitation to join the group once you're officially a member. Can't wait to see you on the inside!
