Sat,01Sep2012
Skip to content.House of Tales and Music offers children enriching entertainment .
. .Written by: Muath Freij
As published in the Jordan Times
Years of experience in teaching and a devotion to reading led Rabeea Al Nasser to open the House of Tales and Music for children in 2010.
Nasser, who spent decades working in schools as a teacher and librarian, said that she always dreamed of establishing a place where she could read stories to children.
http://beamman.com/see-and-do/actitivies-entertainment/571-house-of-tales-and-music
"One of the things I wanted to be was a storyteller," she told The Jordan Times in a recent interview at her home.
While she had hoped to rent just one room and turn it into a venue for storytelling, the House of Tales and Music near the Seventh Circle is a more comprehensive facility, hosting not only a storytelling room, but also other rooms for drawing, theatre and music.
"The room children like most is the storytelling room," said Nasser, who began teaching in 1965 at the age of 18, when she moved to Saudi Arabia with her husband.
"At the time, women did not have many options. I thought that I would teach for a while and afterwards I would change my job and became a journalist," she noted.
After returning to Jordan in 1971, she taught in several cities, including Ajloun and Irbid.
"Although my dream was to work in media, I never regretted becoming a teacher because I liked it and I acquired good and new experiences," she said.
After 18 years as a teacher, the veteran educator worked in school libraries for another two decades.
Nasser said that in her career in education, she not only taught children, but learned from them as well.
"When I was working at a library in a private school in Jabal Amman, a student came and asked me to help her do a search on the Internet,” she recalled. “I did not know how to use the Internet, so I asked one of the students to teach me how to use the computer and write an e-mail," the former teacher recalled with a smile.
Nasser said her experience in schools helped her bring her current project to life.
"This project provides children with numerous activities that will enhance their skills in the future," the storyteller added.
The House of Tales and Music is open to all children, she said. Public school students use the facilities for free while private school students pay to use them.
In summer, she said, children can apply for a programme in which they take part in several activities for five hours daily.
Nidaa Saleh and Nibras Hassan, a pair of students who recently visited the house, expressed excitement over the activities they took part in.
"I liked the drawing room. In my free time, I always draw and the house gave me the opportunity to practise my hobby," eight-year-old Saleh said.
Hassan, 12, described Nasser’s storytelling as "magical".
"I enjoyed the stories I heard. The way she read us the story was entertaining," Hassan said.
From Nasser’s perspective, the House of Tales and Music is meant to give children a chance to do things they enjoy that also feed their minds and creativity, rather than wasting their time on mindless entertainment, especially her pet peeve: video games.
"Children enjoy listening to stories, drawing and listening to music. At the house, students can enjoy their time through beneficial activities rather than playing video games," Nasser indicated.
"I am really sad when I see children spend their whole time playing video games rather than paying attention to other good activities," she added.
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