Online Manuals for Parents

HOOPOE TEACHING-STORIES all come from a rich tradition of storytelling in Afghanistan, Central Asia, and the Middle East. For more than a thousand years, by campfire and candlelight, people have told these stories to their children, not only to entertain them, but also to help young people understand their world. Schools for young children were rare, but storytelling was not. Education came from stories.

In presenting these stories to children, you can help them understand what we share and what we can learn from each other. The stories can help children understand human nature. They encourage qualities such as self-reliance, the ability to overcome irrational fears caused by things children do not as yet understand, peaceful negotiation rather than violent confrontation, and much else.

To help you get the most out of these Teaching-Stories, we have developed an introductory leaflet Learning that Lasts: Teaching-Stories for Early Childhood Education and a set of free materials for teachers and parents. Materials include manuals in English and Spanish (this page) and project guides to create felt characters, a Felt Board, finger puppets, and paper bag puppets—CLICK HERE.

You will need a copy of Adobe Acrobat^® or Acrobat Reader^® to read and print the files. Acrobat Reader is free from Adobe. Your computer probably has a copy installed, but if not, you can download a free copy of Acrobat Reader here. Depending on your browser setup, you may have to right-click (or control-click, Mac) on the title of the manual desired.

Hoopoe books help children develop an understanding
of themselves and the world around them.

From thinking children come thinking adults.