About Us
Mastering Literacy Through The Art Of Story
The Art of Story is a writing curriculum developed by Margaret
South, derived from working with professional writers for over thirty years.
Margaret has made it her life’s work to help writers tell their
stories. She has served as a story consultant for theatre,
television, and film. As a co-founder of Bette Midler’s “All
Girl Productions,” Margaret has produced feature films including
the acclaimed and beloved “Beaches.” A respected film professional,
she continues to develop film projects. She teaches “The Art
of Story” online at (http://
www.theartofstory.com) to students all over the world,
as well as local students of all ages, at Pacific New Media,
the University of Hawai'i. Together with her husband, the writer
Frank South, Margaret developed and implemented a playwriting
program for at-risk students in New York City area schools.
She now makes it her mission to help the young people here in
Hawai'i tell their stories.
Much has been written about KIDS TALK STORY including the
Honolulu Star Bulletin Feature Story (Vol. 11, Issue 107
- Monday, April 17, 2006). Many happy kids, parents and
educators have come out of this program. It works!
Margaret says, "We assume our students have great potential;
and we insist that our students achieve the excellence which
is in their grasp." All participating students are expected to increase
their literacy skills by 10% based on Hawaii Department of Education's performance
standards. Our program follows a standards-based curriculum of the Hawaii Dept. of
Education.
How The Program Works What Do Children Learn When They Create
Their Own Stories.
Here’s how the program works. The students meet with us once or twice a week after school. Children who qualify for No Child Left Behind funding receive 24 hours of free tutoring for the school year. For those who do not qualify, services are available for a reasonable price. Working with small groups, our teachers help the students develop their
stories. In KIDS TALK STORY we encourage kids from K-12 to write their own
stories. We tell them, “If you can write your own story, you
can write your own happy ending.” While they’re writing about
themselves and the issues they care about, they are practicing
the core standards in Language Arts. According to Stephanie
Nishihama of the Farrington High School Language Arts Department,
“This is an awesome program. It helps the students meet all
the standards in Language Arts, and it supports all the General
Learner Outcome Goals.”
Services Mastering Literacy Through The Art
Of Storytelling
At KIDS TALK STORY we aim to help every child in Hawai'i
tell his or her own story, and provide that child with a hard
cover version of that story to keep and treasure forever.
Student authors aged K-12 work on their own life stories. They
are guided through the process of writing from the heart and
are encouraged to be courageous in saying what they think. We
teach them that they matter to us. We teach them that we want
to hear their stories.
We use the principles of storytelling to show our student
authors that they can act as the heroes of their own life
stories. That as heroes, they make choices all along the way.
That these choices will affect them in the next chapters of
their lives, just like they do in the storybooks. We teach
them the empowering message, "If you can write
your own story, you can write your own happy ending".
The first step a student takes at KIDS TALK STORY is to formulate
his own idea. Joan Didion, winner of the 2005 National Book
Award says, “I write entirely to find out what I'm thinking,
what I'm looking at, what I see and what it means. What I
want and what I fear.” At KIDS TALK STORY, we help our students
find out what they’re thinking, what they’re looking at,
what they see and what it means; also what is that they want and what
they fear?
We stress that we do not tell the students what to write.
It’s our job to help them tell their stories. Here’s how it
works:
• With guidance, a student writes his own story.
• He makes a personal investment in that story.
• He wants to get it right.
• He reads his story aloud.
• He gets feedback and suggestions.
•He gives others feedback and suggestions.
• He has an emotional investment in mastering his skills as a writer.
• He has an investment in mastering the rules of language.
• He has an investment in meeting the standards for his grade level as
outlined by the Hawai'i Department of Education.
All participating students are expected to increase
their skills by one grade level AT LEAST per year. Every student
who completes the KIDS TALK STORY program is given a hardcover
edition of his or her own story to keep and treasure forever.
Below is just a few of the services we offer. Please call us for a program customized to
your organization.
Children & Teen Writing Classes (K-12)
Literacy Education
Book Publishing
Writing Competitions & Contests (Coming Soon)
Curriculum Consulting for Educators
Homeschooling Programs For Parents
Public Speaking
Writing Workshops
Consulting
Program Management
Writer-producer Frank South works
with the
students to write about their own ideas.
By writing their own stories, students learn
and develop communication skills that will
lead to lifelong success. Mastering these
skills greatly improves their chances of
academic achievement, career success
and healthy personal relationships.
Margaret South witnesses the joy of
self
accomplishment. Margaret, also a
Writer-producer, says she is very gratified
by the personal success of her
students.
She says, "For most kids, this is a
character-building experience that
will last a lifetime."
Click photo to view the Honolulu Star
Bulletin Article (Vol. 11, Issue 107 - Monday April 17, 2006)
