The Wonderful World of Fairy Tales

Why fairy tales in preschool? Well... preschool is a place of growth and learning, especially in regards to social interactions and emotional development. It is also a place of wonder and imagination. Here, fairy tales offer our little ones a space where they can enter the house of the three bears alongside Goldilocks and learn how some actions can hurt others. Fairy tales motivate our little ones to be critical thinkers. They can decide what they would’ve done differently in the character’s situation. Would they have walked into the house of the three bears? Would they have eaten their food? Sat in their chairs? Lay in their beds?

Fairy tales can also teach children to look past a person's age or appearance. It is not always the oldest one which is most wise. In the story of “The 7 little Goats”, it was the youngest one which knew not to open the door for the wolf. And who could forget the shabby looking girl in “The Princess on the Pea”? Turns out she really was a princess. So many of our IB Learner attributes are being developed - being a thinker, principled, caring, open-minded, inquirer, risk taker and of course communicator.

 

Fairy tales are also a great way to learn about what makes a story, the different ways in which we can tell stories, as well as how stories connect among different cultures. They are looking for beginning, middle, end, problem and solution in the stories. All skills which will help them build strong foundations in literacy for the years to come.

As with all IB units, math and science concepts are also integrated into the curriculum rather than seen as “standalone” subjects. Our kindergarten teacher, Frau Moschisch has, more than once, turned into Rapunzel as she visits the preschool classrooms to plant rapunzels and create towers with the children to watch as the plant grows. Will they grow high enough to let her escape the tower? Well, ask your little ones to use their imagination to make a prediction or maybe even invent a new ending to the story.

“Fairy tales are more than true – not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.” — G.K. Chesterton,