What Our Clients Say

“In an age when digital everything is blazing trails in our children's minds it's refreshing to see someone who really gets "IT" and is doing something to change how children learn. Margaret South, famed Hollywood producer does a good turn for education with her Kids Talk Story program that is changing the lives of each child it touches. It's a powerful experience. How do I know? My son is in his second session of this remarkable class.

— Kelly Mitchell, 6th Grade parent

“Wow! This class is helping our shy flower a lot. Mahalo for all your help! The one-on-one has really improved Kael’s schoolwork. He is actually completing work on time. Next step—neatness.” 

— Luanne Goodness-Ono

“I know that if I am frustrated or sad, I can just grab paper and pen and just write it all down. It lets out a lot of feelings. THANK YOU.”

“I learned how to write more, and write more details and feelings.”

“From this class I really learned that writing helps me a lot because I get to let my feelings out.”

“I learned that sometimes it’s healthy to clear your thoughts to understand yourself more.”

“I learned how to respect people more. I like this experience because I made a book.”

“The experience made me realize what potential I really have. Thank you.”

“It is amazing the way the teachers help us and encourage us to speak out loud.”

“I enjoyed this work. I enjoyed it because I was able to write more than I ever wrote in my life.”

“I would take Kids Talk Story a million times more.”

“This program is awesome.  It helps the students meet all the standards in Language Arts as well as the GLO’s.  (General Learner Outcomes) 

— Stephanie Nishihama, Language Arts Department and Future Teachers of America, Farrington High School

 

“You folks are WONDERFUL!  I was amazed at your capacity to accept the students for who they are, and where they are.  I was also impressed with your insistence that they move forward with their stories, and face the consequential realities- and the realities of their lives.

There’s no doubt in my mind that the students at Palama have made tremendous progress in their writing skills and their communication skills.  Also, they students looked forward to working with you, so attendance was improved.

I was blown away by your insights, especially by your perspective on the human condition, the conflicts that face us as people in a changing existence.

Thank you for coming and bringing your talents and world view to us.  I look forward to the next episodes.”

— Todd Wyrick, Educational Specialist, Palama Settlement

 

“Initially, the students resisted the challenge of writing and would come up with various excuses not to write.  However, with a lot of prompting and support from the instructors, these students began a journey that started with one sentence and ended with a book they could take home and share with their friends and family. 

“Through the summer the students worked hard on their project.  Their first obstacle was coming up with a topic.  For many of them it was a story of their resilience.  Next was putting their chosen topic down in words.  Then they had to rewrite and rewrite and rewrite… 

OF course, for the students the reward for their hard work was the finished product itself.  As each student was presented their book, the smiles on their faces and their many thank you’s to the Kids Talk Story instructors, was a strong indication that the Kids Talk Story program had been a great success. 

“For the ICTP staff, seeing the students complete their project, from start to end, was the biggest reward.  Some of these students chose sensitive topics.  This project allowed them to reflect on that time of their lives and heal a little.

“Everyone has a story to tell and the Kids Talk Story program gave our students that opportunity to share their story.  Mahalo!”

— Ednalyn S.I. Godinet, Program Director,In-Community Treatment Program

 

“I have been involved with several writing classes over the years in my position as a college and career counselor.  Kids Talk Story is the first program where I’ve seen students enter the class with smiles on their faces.  The class is taught in a manner that highly motivates the students to explore their wonderment and creativity in order to improve their writing ability and style.  The Kids Talk Story teachers are adept at keeping the students engaged.  The students have fun while learning and that is the best road to success.” 

— Mike Young, Career Counselor, Kalani High School

 

“Morning comes, and they come dragging in. Ordered to be here by the court system, the kids (called delinquent by some), come to school sporadically, complaining all the way. At least they used to. Because now on the two days that there is a Creative Writing course called Kids Talk Story, the attendance level rises noticeably.

“These kids are reluctant to speak about their feelings in a group. The children that come to this class have sometimes had horrendous childhoods; experiences already in their young lives that I have yet (and hope to never) see.

“The first week of this class it looked like our usual “morning group.” Kids goofing around, not taking their turn to read, asking others to read for them, kids not writing at all.  And now three weeks later, I walk through the class to see them writing intensely, a complete silence that’s almost never heard in this room. I hear a boy who rarely speaks talk about his feelings as he looked at the needle his friend had handed him. A 14-year-old girl describing the specific surroundings she saw and smelled in the roach-crawling kitchen where she took her childhood meals. The (strangely logical) reasons given for having stolen from each of the 12 foster care homes that another lived in before his mother finally got out of jail. Feelings that they would never dream of revealing but now saying them out loud to a group of other “cool kids.” And the look on their faces after that, telling that I counsel hours and hours to get. The look of relief to have said it out loud.

“That’s what is happening now for them with the Kids Talk Story Program. Last term, when the deadlines for the stories came, I saw them scramble. These professional procrastinators really pushed themselves to get their pages in. I witnessed their quiet (and loud) joy holding their own words in the hard bound books they received. Their own stories they thought so private and shameful before, there for anyone to see. The pride they had in their own difficult lives had them passing the books back and forth. Those same stories  they couldn’t say out loud a few months before.

“I learned more about the private experiences of last terms’ students in these books than through most of the hours of therapy time I spent with them. I saw as much or more growth and acceptance of themselves in those pages than in most of the reports I’ve written on “delinquents” in my 30-year career.”

— Judy Baker, Teacher and Counselor, Palama Settlement In Community Treatment Program

“I discovered Kids Talk Story a year ago through the Web site, and the more I learned, the better it looked. My education consulting company, Syndactics, Inc., had just received a contract from the Arizona Department of Education to provide after-school tutoring services to poverty students enrolled in schools labeled by No Child Left Behind as Underperforming. My Conversation Stations curriculum serves children in kindergarten through second grade, so Kids Talk Story was a natural fit for third grade through high school.

“I was even more impressed when I met Margaret South, and she and I explored ways to use her unique, exciting curriculum as part of my program. Working with Margaret and Kids Talk Story has been a great pleasure.

“The curriculum is very easy to use, as it’s designed to give tutors the tools and lesson plans that will engage and challenge young writing students. It is flexible and can be adapted according to the number of students and their ages. The kids have a great time too, once they realize this is very different from the same-old writing class, with a lot of rules and “musts.” The grammar and language structure are there, but they are presented in such a way that the students learn to use them while they focus on expressing their own thoughts and feelings.

“My tutors’ comments include: “It’s wonderful to see the progress kids make from session to session, and how proud they are of the books they produce.” “Many of the kids I worked with have no joy for writing. The years of criticism received about spelling, grammar, and even their own ideas nearly killed the creative writing spirit within them. It was an amazing experience to watch the kids finally write without the fear.”

“Syndactics’ plans for Kids Talk Story for this school year include six tutors instead of three, and at least twice as many sessions as last year. I can recommend Kids Talk Story and Margaret South highly. Anyone who loves the combination of students and literature should review this chance for a fulfilling — and profitable — adventure."

— Lyn Weiner, Ed. D., President, Syndactics, Inc.