Mirra took its baby steps into the world of webinars on Saturday 16 May 2020 by conducting an hour-long session on storytelling and its role in the development of children for parents of our MEI program – Mirra Early Intervention.
Covid 19 has been a force to reckon with in the way it has changed our normal routines upside down and brought to the fore how advances in technology can be used to an advantage as well as an interface for connecting with people all over. It has also helped to highlight the law of inertia, albeit in a positive way – Yes . . . by making us Team Mirra to hold our first webinar for our MEI parents.
The session brought together the team and parents on a lovely afternoon. It began with a briefing about the need for MEI to be convened periodically to connect with parents and discuss strategies important in the holistic development of children followed by a recap of all our earlier such sessions for the benefit of new parents and to bring home the fact that it is a continuum.
What followed was an amazing rendering of two short stories by Divyatha, our in house special educator and arts based therapy practitioner. In her usual impeccable way, she narrated the stories with props and a story bag, making us curse Covid and lament the fact that we were not there physically to enjoy her expressions and drama at play.
The forum was then set for parents to narrate stories of their choice. Those who volunteered, amazingly retold their childhood stories, and one of them even rendered it in the form of a song. Resources such as prop box and objects that can be a part of it were highlighted. The benefits of storytelling and its use as a powerful tool to engage with the child were also shared. The participants, by reliving their nostalgic moments, were also implored to make storytelling a ritualistic practice with their wards.
We ended the webinar by obtaining feedback via Google forms.
All is well that ends well and our first webinar has surely encouraged us to hold more such events in future and to continue pushing our boundaries as we explore and learn.
You may view the session by accessing this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-SBwQ7qYJk