The Concept
The heart was once considered the organ most responsible for determining who we are and who we would become. We, of course, now know that it's not the heart at all ... it's the brain!
The StoriesWithoutEnd.com concept is a simple one - strengthen a child's brain and you strengthen a child's physical ability to learn and to remember.
The Process
We provide fun, fascinating, adventurous stories; stories that tickle the curiosity ... and each story is incomplete. You, together with your child, read the story (or use the "Listen & Read" function to have the story read for you) and your child, using that wonderfully creative imagination, makes up the ending. (Check out "The Science" section below to learn why this process is vitally important to your child's ability to learn and remember).
Every Sunday afternoon a new, original, incomplete story is posted to the Story Library.
(Please note: StoriesWithoutEnd.com is decidedly NOT a storybook web site. Your child's imagination is a wild and wooly place where anything is possible ... and because it is, our site graphics and color are intentionally kept sparse so as to encourage your child to imagine what things look like, imagine what happens next, and imagine how stories end. That, after all, is the whole point of StoriesWithoutEnd).
In addition to the "Listen & Read" function, each story has its own:
- Direct link to a children's dictionary.
- Downloadable, printable coloring book.
- Three skill-level word search game.
- "Save" function for when a story is not completed in one sitting.
(See a sample story).
In addition to the creative stimulation that your child engages in by creating story endings, there are also important, "softer" benefits. According to home school expert Diane Flynn Keith of "Clickschooling," "Parents interacting with their kids (not only) improves intellectual function, but promotes healthy emotional, social, psychological, and physical growth (and) strengthens the parental-child relationship."
The Science
Research in the field of neurophysiology and its implications for learning tells us that cognitive stimulation literally, physically creates and strengthens brain synapses and that these brain synapses are believed to underlie the process by which all learning occurs. This same research tells us that, through a natural process called "pruning," the brain rids itself of unused synapses.
A child using his/her creative imagination is engaging is an excellent form of cognitive stimulation ... and creating stories is an excellent way to stimulate a child's creative imagination. Simply stated:
Creating stories = Cognitive stimulation = Synaptic growth/strengthening
(For more science and pictures of actual brain scans, click "BRAIN SCANS and Research").
Every three months your child will be encouraged to enter a particular story into the "Best Endings Competition." Stories will be evaluated by a team of professional educators and three winners will be chosen. (Stories will be judged primarily on creativity). Each winner will receive a United States Savings Bond in an amount to be determined (but in no instance less than one hundred dollars) and one will have their story with his/her ending professionally illustrated, printed, and bound and his/her name will appear on the cover as the author. The winning child will receive five copies of their completed book. Additional copies will be made available for purchase at the pass-through price. There are no plans to offer books for sale to the general public.
What You Should Do
Once you subscribe and create a profile and password, simply sign into your child's own private space, select a story from the "Stories Library" and begin. (Check out our Recommendations for a Successful Session).
Costs
Site subscriptions are available in increments of:
Coming Soon!
A new section for the beginning reader!
Please contact us with your comments, questions, and suggestions. We would love to hear from you! |
