The Enchantment of Fairy Tales & Why They Delight Children

Welcome to the Voice Of Change.  Gesine Abraham is with me today and the title of the program is: The Enchantment of Fairy Tales: Why Fairy Tales are for a Child a Soul's Delight.

 

Over the 40 plus years I have been telling fairy tales to children as a preschool and kindergarten teacher, I have seen a consistent response among the children—fairy tales are unquestionably the most appealing and best loved of all stories in the entire realm of children's literature.  One can clearly see by the look in the eyes of the children, and by the quality of their attention, that they are experiencing something both delightful, profound, and satisfying.  Fairy tales are losing favor in today's contemporary culture, yet they serve an important purpose that is needed now more than ever before.  By exploring the ancient origin of fairy tales, as well as the nature of the fairy tale motif and imagery, we see how fairy tales are able to provide children with deep meaning in a playful and picturesque manner.  We see that fairy tales provide much needed soul nourishment for children. 

 

Gesine has been applying Waldorf early childhood principles in a variety of settings, including Head Start, play groups, day care, and private Waldorf schools. She taught kindergarten at a private K-8 private Waldorf school in Southern Oregon for 10 years. Throughout these years, Gesine has also been actively involved in parenting education, providing presentations at parent evenings, workshops, and lectures. She earned her BA degree from the World Program of Long Island University. During her undergraduate studies as a World Program student, she attended the foundation year program at Emerson Waldorf Teacher Training Institute in England. She completed her second year of Waldorf teacher training at the Waldorf Teacher Training Institute in Michigan.