The superpower of family stories

WHAT’S GOING ON?

You probably know that reading to your children has many benefits, including language development, emotional development, and bonding with you. However, the stories you don’t have to read, but can just tell – about yourself, your family history, and your kiddo's earlier years – have some special super powers over and above other stories.

The family is the original unit of socialization for children, and narrative is the way we understand the world and our own place in it. So in a sense family stories provide the most basic information kids need to feel grounded: Who am I? Where do I come from? How do I fit in?

With or without stories, we take the patterns of interaction and emotional imprinting from our families with us into the rest of our lives. Family stories are so important because they help us make sense of our early experiences, and help kids understand what their group is all about. And, it turns out that how stories are told in the family also has consequences as well.

One seminal study found that kids who know more about their family history displayed:

stronger sense of control over their lives
higher self-esteem
and believed their families functioned better

In fact, knowing stories about family history turned out the be the single best predictor of children’s emotional health and happiness! Dr. Duke, one of the researchers, attributed this to having a strong “intergenerational self” – when children know they belong to something bigger than themselves.

How does this apply to your child?

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