Read to me!
Reading aloud used to be a widespread cultural
tradition. Nowadays, people often stop reading to their children and together
with them as soon as their children learn to read. It’s a mistake.
Psychologists recommend reading books aloud to your kids until they turn 14 to
ensure their holistic emotional development. Reading together is especially
beneficial. Plays are the best way to bond family members together and to share
feelings.
James Jebusa Shannon, "Jungle Tales", 1895
Enter home theater!
Theater is a very meaningful pastime. Rehearsing
a play is great for esthetic education and for deep immersion into the world of
literature, music, fine arts, and dance.
Play is one of the
basic and the most vital activities for children aged 1-12. Play
isn’t just fun. It’s an entire cosmos. The idea behind a home theater is
teaching by playing. Home theater teaches children to feel their feelings, to
interact with each other, to be creative, and to behave in a group setting.
Well-chosen plays can help your children to become better Christians.
"The Owner of Flower Garden",
scene from "The Snow Queen"
Home theater spurs
the development of children’s creativity. Children are fond of
participating in rehearsals, suggesting changes to the script or inventing and
enacting their own scenes. They master their native language, learn to use
logical thinking skills, and enjoy the beautiful and diverse world of arts and
letters.
Little Secret and Big Miracle
One precious secret
of home theater is the long process of preparing for the performance. Yes,
you’ve heard me correctly! Making colorful scenery and sophisticated costumes
with your own hands and choosing props—that’s what makes home theater so
unique. Why hurry? Home theater is the place where you can enjoy spending time
together. While you write the script, draw, glue, and rehearse this or that
episode, you get more and more united with your kids!
"The Prince Is Sick!"
scene from "The Traveler’s Tale"
Amazing Powers of Theater
Performing, making
scenery, writing and discussing the script is one thing. The
fact that well-chosen plays can be immensely advantageous for the mental
well-being of your child is another. When your child plays the part of a
negative character, she can spot the same negative traits in her own character and
learn to overcome them and acquire positive traits instead. More importantly,
you can teach it to your child without having to lecture her, just by playing
together.
It is common
knowledge that there are numerous methods of therapy based on play and
theatrical performances with the chief principle being “laugh with the child,
not at the child.” That is why you should write or choose plays and
fairy tales where you can laugh together and ridicule laziness, fear, shyness
and sheepishness (which isn’t to be mistaken for modesty), cowardice, etc.
Here is a brief beginners’ manual: just begin
:-)
Undoubtedly, home
theater enhances speech development, teaches dialog skills and improves the
child’s ability to share her impressions, which is especially instrumental in
the contemporary world of online interactions where we have a shortage of ways
to express our feelings verbally (and therefore to think clearly, because
speech is inextricably bound with thinking).
"Butterflies", a
scene from "Ladybird"
Perhaps, most
importantly, a well-chosen repertoire will inspire your children to love the
wonderful, the great, and the authentic without lengthy talks and sermons.
Home theater creates an atmosphere of joy,
warmth, and love.
Try and organize a fun event at home!
By Michael
Mironenko,
a Bachelor of
Theology,
the director of the
Sunday School at the Church
in honor of St.
Prince Vladimir in Minsk,
director at the studio theater "Ladybird" for 9 years,
a father of two children
The Catalog of Good Deeds, 2018
CONVERSATION