June 2026-Memory and Meaning

Welcome to June! The summer is off to a great start! This month, many students, parents and teachers will celebrate the "moving on" ceremonies or graduations as the school year comes to a close once again. Looking back at the past year filled with learning, fun, friendships and lots of growth, both physically and emotionally, we are continually reminded of these wonderful experiences by which our memories have allowed us to function in all categories each day.

As children get ready to "begin" leaving the old behind and get ready to embark on new adventures, we must acknowledge how using our memories are used to inspire us to create stories to stay with us for years to come.

In this month's Writing section, we will look at how everyday memories can be used to inspire a story. Let's Dive In!

I - Writing- Turning Memories Into Stories

One of the best things that children have is their ability to use their imaginations on a daily basis. They enjoy being silly at times and in doing so, they use their imaginations to create things to "avoid" tasks they don't want to do. Turning that around, children can use that avoidance to create a story about the thing they are trying to get out of, such as chores or homework or other bigger responsibilities.

If your child remembers that on Tuesdays, for example, they have to go to the store with a parent and they don't like going, they could use the scenario to create a story about a magical store where you don't have to leave the car to shop, and you pick your groceries by pushing a button to drop them off in your vehicle already bagged up. It also helps to introduce books to children that have a vivid and deeply rooted message such as "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" or "The Lion, Witch and The Wardrobe." These stories have elements of an experience in whimsy, humor, and relatable themes involving morality, honesty, greed and the consequences of bad behavior.

The more books children read, the better they become at writing their own stories. There's no better way to benefit from your own memories when writing a story. Some ideas could be: A day at the beach, Walking on a quiet trail with a parent or grandparent, Flying in an airplane for the first time, etc. Once the idea is found, the story will unfold and new memories are made!

II - Education- Memory, Learning and Narrative

Thinking back to when I taught pre-school, I remember doing a unit on "before, during, and after." We worked on doing puzzles and teaching children the step by step methods of correct order to make something work. There were alot of hands-on activities too. Story telling was part of this teaching unit and opening up the pathway to explore how story telling helps recall and understanding.

I've talked about "show and tell" before and how it, not only, helps to reduce anxiety in speaking in front of the class and adults, but how it works to help strengthen those important elements of memory and narrative. Another part of story telling that I enjoyed was teaching children how to explain a step by step process for understanding. An example of this would be asking how to explain making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Sounds simple, right? When you actually break down the steps to make the sandwich, there's alot more involved than we think. The children enjoyed hearing the different ways they made their sandwiches. The teachers would sit next to the student and scribe for the student every word they said to make their sandwich. Believe it or not, there were very different ways they found to be creative! Reading them back was even funnier and we laughed at some very creative ways of sandwich making.

The story telling exercise gives way to using details which are important when writing a story. The thing about story telling that is so reinforcing to memory. learning and narrative is that it engages in pattern recognition and recall as it anchors all the necessary brain functions to perform making information easy to apply.

So, how do you make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich? In my version, you need two slices of bread, peanut butter, jelly, a knife and a plate. What happens next is a sequence of events that could change depending on preference to ingredients and the importance of the end result.

When children have fun writing and telling stories, whether true or fiction, they are actively engaging their brains in various ways and learning how story telling shapes their world.

III - Parenting- Helping Kids Talk About Past Experiences

One of the toughest things parents or grandparents do when working with their child or grandchild to write a story is to re-construct the chain of events necessary to talk about how past experiences have made an impact on their lives. Sometimes the past can be a difficult and painful place to re-create, let alone find a way to write about it. This is where the story telling process helps to ease the confusion or difficult moments when connecting the present to the past and vice versa.

Just as in a teacher works with students on step by step instructions to disclose and recall important details in an event that turns into a story, so must a parent or care giver use similar methods to unload both positive and negative moments in order to create a story filled with detail, accuracy and emotion.

Asking the right questions to bring up the past experiences can be challenging. Helping kids dig deep into memories and associate them with things that can easily jog a memory can be an ongoing process. For the parent role, it brings a moment to spend time and share thoughts, ideas and examples of a time gone by; for the child, it helps to anchor the parent-child relationship without pressure, just the pure enjoyment of spending precious time together while developing untapped and new experiences.

Something to plan together this month: Write about and share a favorite family memory.

Well friends, that wraps up the June blog. I hope to hear from you in the comments if you want to share any of your ideas!

Next month, I'll be touching on "Playful Writing" for July. Using games, toys and pretend play as writing tools and focusing on learning through play.

HAVE A GREAT JUNE!