Are you among the parents that find your own children complaining about writing assignments, or struggle with essays are plain and lacking any expressions of their interest or feelings? The cause of this problem is mainly because the child has no subjects to work with, is short on daily life experiences, lack observational skills and imagination. Under the pressure of homework they become even more despaired and want to avoid writing.

In fact it is very important for primary school students to enjoy the pleasures of creativity. Not only will this improve their writing and ability to express ideas, it can even trigger creative and critical thinking abilities, all of which will help with their personal development. So how should one go about guiding their child to write stories? It is not difficult to see that primary school students become excited when they hear about fairy tales fables, myths and fantasy stories, so now many creative writing class instructors also apply the approach of "story adaptation" to guide the creative process of their students. This will allow the child to realize that writing stories is actually a lot of fun, and at the same time improve their listening, speaking, reading and writing abilities.

Featuring in the newspaper recently is the “Storytelling Mother” Pauline Young from the United States with a very good example of this approach. Pauline Young is a mother and author who not only runs a book club in the United States, but also extends on her own work “Socks Heaven” to create workshops that involve games. "I have read a lot of the stories, and discovered story adaptation to be very interesting. When I started teaching children how to read I also taught them to adapt the story at the same time, so that they can add in their own imagination and develop their potential.”

In foreign countries, this integration of reading, writing and gaming activity based workshops are very popular, with very enthusiastic response from all the children. We can also take a leaf out of Pauline Young ‘s "Story Adaptation" process as a parent-child activity. Through the reading of some interesting and well written stories, parents can encourage their child to recreate the details, such as changing the location/environment/time of the story, adding character dialogue, rewrite the plot and outcome. This allows children to add their personal memory and imagination, to express, draw or edit these details as exciting stories with new ideas come to life. Parents should allow and encourage children’s wildest ideas to make them feel that the creative process is an extraordinarily fun activity.

Of course, the selection of suitable stories for adaptation is also very important. For example, fairy tales, fables, myths, and fantasy stories are excellent resources due to the ease for them to stimulate the child's imagination. The selection of Chinese classic stories has the added benefit of allowing children to appreciate traditional Chinese culture and improve their language skills. Taiwanese writer Chang Man Chuan has set a very good example for us. She founded the "Chang Man Chuan Primary School" in Taiwan known for its inclusion of sutra and poetry reading along with other creative activities. As an advocate of creative approaches to learning the Chinese language and writing, the course also includes the reading and adaptation of classical Chinese fantasy stories. At the mentioning of classic Chinese story, many parents worry that the material will be dreary for their children, but in fact there are many imaginative and fascinating stories. Chang Man Chuan’s book "Fantasy School" is a collection of fantasy adventure stories rewritten and adapted from such classics as "Tang Legends - Duzi Chun", "The Gods - Nezha", "Journey to the West" and "Flowers in the Mirror", matching the excitement of Western fantasy novels like "Harry Potter". Parents can also take reference of these classics and adaptations, share it with their children, and then create the most interesting stories that will be truly unique and enjoyable.

Of course, the selection of suitable stories for adaptation is also very important. For example, fairy tales, fables, myths, and fantasy stories are excellent resources due to the ease for them to stimulate the child's imagination. The selection of Chinese classic stories has the added benefit of allowing children to appreciate traditional Chinese culture and improve their language skills. Taiwanese writer Chang Man Chuan has set a very good example for us. She founded the "Chang Man Chuan Primary School" in Taiwan known for its inclusion of sutra and poetry reading along with other creative activities. As an advocate of creative approaches to learning the Chinese language and writing, the course also includes the reading and adaptation of classical Chinese fantasy stories. At the mentioning of classic Chinese story, many parents worry that the material will be dreary for their children, but in fact there are many imaginative and fascinating stories. Chang Man Chuan’s book "Fantasy School" is a collection of fantasy adventure stories rewritten and adapted from such classics as "Tang Legends - Duzi Chun", "The Gods - Nezha", "Journey to the West" and "Flowers in the Mirror", matching the excitement of Western fantasy novels like "Harry Potter". Parents can also take reference of these classics and adaptations, share it with their children, and then create the most interesting stories that will be truly unique and enjoyable.

1. Pauline Young is currently the storytelling instructor of the parent education course running at Hong Kong's "Bring Me A Book Institute".
2. Quote from Hu Lishan (18 November 2013), "Story Adaptation Guides Children in Creative Writing", Sky Post.
3. Chang Man Chuan is a professor of Chinese at Soochow University in Taiwan and best-selling author. In 2005 she founded the sutra reading, poetry reading and creative, "Chang Man Chuan Primary School".