Helen Lumgair
Early Years Consultant
Helen is a Montessori directress, Certified Clay Conversationalist and TEFL teacher. She operates as an education consultant, having worked with children, families and educational organisations for 25 years.
Helen facilitates the understanding and use of the English language in a creative setting, empowering children and adults to express themselves and share their stories using the medium of clay.
Helen is skilled in the creation of curricula using narrative as a foundation: she created the framework and initial lesson plans of the empathy-focused Think Equal curriculum which was recognised with a WISE award for innovation and the addressing of global educational challenges, and which has been implemented worldwide resulting in increased well-being for tens of thousands of children.
Helen is also an author. She wrote the book, Using Stories to Support Children in the Early Years alongside a number of colleagues, and also contributed chapters to Developing Empathy in the Early Years: A Guide for Practitioners.
Helen’s work with education, with story, and her recent clay studies have confirmed her belief in the importance of holding space for children and adults to express themselves in a unique and intentional manner, thereby facilitating personal growth and learning.
Key takeaways:
- Helen Lumgair’s Background: A qualified early years teacher with a Montessori background, Helen is an author and consultant passionate about storytelling, having written *Using Stories to Support Learning and Development in the Early Years* and contributed to the empathy-focused Think Equal curriculum, recognized with a Wise Award.
- Power of Storytelling: Stories are magical, comforting, and universal for children, serving as a natural springboard for learning across subjects, fostering emotional, cognitive, and physical development.
- Hope and Agency: Hope, a dynamic cognitive system, is nurtured through storytelling by encouraging mental time travel and imagining future possibilities, building resilience and personal agency in children.
- Stories Shape Behavior: Research, like Grant and Dutton’s 2012 study, shows that telling stories of personal contribution (e.g., fundraisers reflecting on helping others) increases prosocial behavior, with narrative reframing fostering purposeful living.
- Language and Emotional Granularity: Precise language enhances emotional differentiation, enabling children to accurately label feelings (e.g., “frustrated” vs. “cross”), which improves emotional regulation, reduces anxiety, and boosts resilience.
- Stories Foster Connection: Sharing and listening to stories, especially agentic ones, builds resilience, self-esteem, and collaboration, while teaching children to seek relationships where their stories are honored and safe.
- Awe Narratives: Recalling awe-inspiring experiences (e.g., vast natural or heroic acts) enhances mental health and perspective, shifting focus from trivial concerns and fostering interconnectedness through shared stories.
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