Gurgaon: How do kids get their minds round worry, or sibling rivalry, or envy? And how does a guardian give an explanation for prejudice to a child?
These are questions Antony Rajkumar, an promoting professional, and his wife Aarthi have been asking themselves, seeing their son and daughter develop up. Both would steadily surprise, "How do you communicate difficult topics to kids, and make such topics accessible and meaningful to them?"
It's in search for the answers that they got here up with StoryWalker365, a storytelling app that doesn't simply inform stories however embroiders emotions into their material, allowing kids to achieve a better working out of lifestyles's complexities. Because early on, this Gurgaon couple realised, much to their disenchantment, that there is slightly any children-oriented subject material which is nuanced and empathetic, that educates as well as enlightens.
Over a 12 months and a half, they've crafted stories, discovered voiceover artistes to narrate the stories, and created an audiovisual platform where kids can input an international that is as genuine as the only they navigate on a daily basis, peopled by 'characters' with the same joys and worries they experience. "Sometimes, they need a story to make sense of the real world," shared Antony. "Our kids deserve better, we owe it to them."
The concept was once to find content material with that means, and construct values and ethics into that content material. "For us, stories are a medium, not an end goal," stocks Antony. So, StoryWalker365 takes kids (and their parents) into the universe of Booshkata, a jungle international inhabited by creatures great and small, together with a lion, lioness and their cub, and Ringo the elephant shrew (a rodent who doesn't have confidence he's small - as a result of he's 50 % 'elephant'!). Each has a tale to tell.
While there are many storytelling apps in the market, the way StoryWalker365 has been introduced - with original, values-based content material and storylines that kids can relate to in their daily lives, and by distinguishing between age teams - makes it unique on this area, a minimum of in India. There's nothing make-believe or magic about these stories.
The app's catchphrase is 'construction beautiful inside of', as a result of there's a higher purpose at the back of telling these stories. Says Antony, "We must build kids inside, not just physically. By building character, we're building citizens of the future." StoryWalker365 flowed from the couple's studies, from their conversations with other parents, and from bouncing ideas off their son Nikhil, 12, and daughter Neha, 7. The stories, and their characters, sprung from these exchanges.
Presently, the app has 24 stories, each and every of round six minutes (a brand new one might be added every week). The stories slot into two classes, for kids aged between 3 and seven years, and for those above seven years. While the characters are equivalent around the classes, their treatment and presentation is, naturally, other, taking into account the adulthood and finding out talents of the kid.
And where books might have sufficed, there's a reason Antony and Aarthi chose to go into the audio area. "Unlike when they're watching TV, kids are actively absorbed when they're listening to a story being told. Children need to be engaged, and we wanted to give them an experience to keep them engaged," defined Antony.
"Parents are never far away from smartphones, and children are comfortable with them, so why fight it? Let's make a problem into an opportunity - that, for us, was the eureka moment!"
In truth, StoryWalker365 will also be as useful for folks as it is illuminating for kids, allowing mums and dads to become familiar with the maze this is everyday parenting (and giving them a chance to bond with their wards).
Still, it was once by no means about money. "Something else was once driving us. It was once virtually like a dream that you're not intended to have.
"We learnt, stumbled, and learnt some more. We by no means settled," admits Antony. "I'm sort of a maverick who writes, Aarthi makes it readable and more sensible - she edits and refines the stories."
And the learnings will never end for a pair that has been on a mystical journey of advent. "We're parents first, then storytellers," Antony insists.
"We're now not speaking as parents who've were given it right, however who could have completed better." Because these stories search to make aware and empathetic voters out of younger listeners, StoryWalker365 is a labour of love that deserves to succeed.
These are questions Antony Rajkumar, an promoting professional, and his wife Aarthi have been asking themselves, seeing their son and daughter develop up. Both would steadily surprise, "How do you communicate difficult topics to kids, and make such topics accessible and meaningful to them?"
It's in search for the answers that they got here up with StoryWalker365, a storytelling app that doesn't simply inform stories however embroiders emotions into their material, allowing kids to achieve a better working out of lifestyles's complexities. Because early on, this Gurgaon couple realised, much to their disenchantment, that there is slightly any children-oriented subject material which is nuanced and empathetic, that educates as well as enlightens.
Over a 12 months and a half, they've crafted stories, discovered voiceover artistes to narrate the stories, and created an audiovisual platform where kids can input an international that is as genuine as the only they navigate on a daily basis, peopled by 'characters' with the same joys and worries they experience. "Sometimes, they need a story to make sense of the real world," shared Antony. "Our kids deserve better, we owe it to them."
The concept was once to find content material with that means, and construct values and ethics into that content material. "For us, stories are a medium, not an end goal," stocks Antony. So, StoryWalker365 takes kids (and their parents) into the universe of Booshkata, a jungle international inhabited by creatures great and small, together with a lion, lioness and their cub, and Ringo the elephant shrew (a rodent who doesn't have confidence he's small - as a result of he's 50 % 'elephant'!). Each has a tale to tell.
While there are many storytelling apps in the market, the way StoryWalker365 has been introduced - with original, values-based content material and storylines that kids can relate to in their daily lives, and by distinguishing between age teams - makes it unique on this area, a minimum of in India. There's nothing make-believe or magic about these stories.
The app's catchphrase is 'construction beautiful inside of', as a result of there's a higher purpose at the back of telling these stories. Says Antony, "We must build kids inside, not just physically. By building character, we're building citizens of the future." StoryWalker365 flowed from the couple's studies, from their conversations with other parents, and from bouncing ideas off their son Nikhil, 12, and daughter Neha, 7. The stories, and their characters, sprung from these exchanges.
Presently, the app has 24 stories, each and every of round six minutes (a brand new one might be added every week). The stories slot into two classes, for kids aged between 3 and seven years, and for those above seven years. While the characters are equivalent around the classes, their treatment and presentation is, naturally, other, taking into account the adulthood and finding out talents of the kid.
And where books might have sufficed, there's a reason Antony and Aarthi chose to go into the audio area. "Unlike when they're watching TV, kids are actively absorbed when they're listening to a story being told. Children need to be engaged, and we wanted to give them an experience to keep them engaged," defined Antony.
"Parents are never far away from smartphones, and children are comfortable with them, so why fight it? Let's make a problem into an opportunity - that, for us, was the eureka moment!"
In truth, StoryWalker365 will also be as useful for folks as it is illuminating for kids, allowing mums and dads to become familiar with the maze this is everyday parenting (and giving them a chance to bond with their wards).
Still, it was once by no means about money. "Something else was once driving us. It was once virtually like a dream that you're not intended to have.
"We learnt, stumbled, and learnt some more. We by no means settled," admits Antony. "I'm sort of a maverick who writes, Aarthi makes it readable and more sensible - she edits and refines the stories."
And the learnings will never end for a pair that has been on a mystical journey of advent. "We're parents first, then storytellers," Antony insists.
"We're now not speaking as parents who've were given it right, however who could have completed better." Because these stories search to make aware and empathetic voters out of younger listeners, StoryWalker365 is a labour of love that deserves to succeed.
To help kids make sense of the real world, two parents turn storytellers
![To help kids make sense of the real world, two parents turn storytellers]()
Reviewed by Kailash
on
January 18, 2018
Rating:
