Stories are a beautiful thing to use to inspire our children. Stories can impact and influence our children in so many positive ways. I have been telling stories to my son, Veer since he was just a few months old. Of course, they don’t respond when they are tiny but they are always listening.
When you read a story to your child always do it with the belief that they are understanding.
I have been using stories to bring about a few changes in my son. I have noticed and seen a phenomenal difference in him just because of stories. Hence, I came up with a model called the 20 Minute Story Parenting Plan.
This is something that I feel can help you on your journey as a parent.
In this article, I will tell you what is the 20 Minute Story Parenting Plan and how can you use it.
What is the 20 Minute Story Parenting Plan?
The 20 Minute Story Parenting Plan is a model that helps you to connect with your child and bring about a change in their behavior without directly asking them to change.
In this model, we use stories as a tool to bring about a certain change in behavior that we want to see in our child.
We use stories as a short-term tool to give us a long-term result, which is a permanent change in our child’s behavior.
Why should we use The 20 Minute Story Parenting Plan?
The 20 Minute Story Parenting Plan has many benefits.
This is a beautiful model.
The beauty of the model is in its simplicity
Use stories to bring about a change in your child’s behavior
Use stories to improve their vocabulary
Use stories to teach them important values
Use stories to encourage creativity
Use stories to expand their vision and mission
Use stories to encourage them
Use stories to connect with your child
Use stories to communicate important messages
Use stories to instill creativity in your child
Use stories to increase their concentration
Use stories
Hence, The 20 Minute Story Parenting Plan can give you long-term and ever-lasting results by just spending 20 minutes telling a story to your child.
How to use “The 20 Minute Story Parenting Plan”?
The 20 Minute Story Parenting Plan is super effective and super easy to use.
All you need to do is tell your child a story.
The maximum time that you must spend on this activity is 20 minutes.
It can be lesser but it definitely cannot exceed 20 Minutes.
Kids cannot be expected to give you attention beyond 20 minutes. I would recommend that you start with just 5- 10 minutes and gradually increase it to 20 minutes if you feel the need to do so.
Hence, the name 20 Minute Story Parenting Plan.
These stories need to be creative, relatable, and easy for your child to understand.
Feel free to use the language that your child can speak and understand.
These stories must empower and encourage your child to do the right thing.
All you need to do is be creative and tell a story to your child.
I recommend you make a story and not use a book at all.
In case you find it challenging to come up with a story, you can read a book yourself and then just tell your little one the story in your words without the book.
Try and ask questions while telling the story.
Encourage your child to participate and think along.
This is such a powerful exercise for the little ones.
They will be learning so many important things even without realizing that they are.
You must start “The 20 Minute Story Parenting Plan” to see how powerful and easy it is.
You will start to see the results in your child in just a few weeks.
Remember any change requires patience, commitment, and consistency.
One Story For You To Understand The 20 Minute Story Parenting Plan
In this example – I am going to now narrate a story to my son, Veer.
Let’s begin-
Once upon a time, there was a very pretty lady.
Her name was Geeta.
Geeta had one son.
His name was Rohit.
He was three years old.
Geeta used to work very hard. She worked at home and also had office work to do.
One day Geeta fell very ill.
I ask Veer this question-
“What do you think Geeta should do now?”
“Do you think Geeta should be allowed to rest, Veer?”
Veer thinks and says, “Yes, she should rest and go to the doctor.”
“That’s correct Veer, but Geeta couldn’t rest.”
“She had so much work to do.”
“What do you think Geeta should do now?”
Veer thinks and says, “she can go to the hospital and work from there.”
“Good answer Veer.”
“Do you think Rohit should help Geeta?”
Veer says, “Yes, yes! Rohit should help his mother.”
“Great idea!”
“How can Rohit help his mother?”
Veer says, “Maybe he can give her water and medicine.”
“Yes! That’s a great idea.”
“Also, do you think he can do his work on his own so that his mummy can rest?”
Veer says, “Yes, he can try to do things on his own.”
“What things can Rohit do on his own?”
Veer continues, “he can go to the bathroom on his own, eat on his own, and put his toys back.“
“Veer will you do the same for mummy when she is ill?”
“Will you do your work on your own and let mummy rest”
Veer says, “Yes, mummy.”
Create and make stories to suit your situation. This can help you communicate the message to your child.
This is such a powerful model.
If you ever fall ill for real, you can just tell your child that remember you told me that you will help your mummy like Rohit helped his mummy when she was ill. You promised you will drink milk on your own and try to help me so that I can rest.
You can make a story every day and will 100% see a huge transformation in your child.
This is an effortless model that works like magic and positively influences our little ones.
You don’t need real books to tell stories.
You just need a little creativity.
These 20 minutes of storytelling can change your life as a parent completely.
What is the best time to start “The 20 Minute Story Parenting Plan”?
The best time to start the “20 Minute Story Parenting Plan” is NOW.
You can start this with really tiny babies.
You can avoid asking questions if your child is less than 1.5 years old.
However, with older kids, you must include questions and encourage them to think.
Summary
This is a model that has worked for me and several other mothers in my community. The beauty of the model is its simplicity and effectiveness. All you need is less than 20 minutes to connect with your child. It is important that you try this and see if it is working for you. You will only know once you try. Don’t judge the model before you have actually tried it.