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Parents As Teachers |
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Our Vision: All children will learn, grow and develop to realize their full potential. |
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The Importance of Rhymes and Songs It is no accident that nursery rhymes, lullabies, and children’s songs have been passed along for many generations. Such rhymes and songs have elements that cause them to be attractive to babies and young children who are in the process of learning language. Repetition, rhythm, and rhyme are three elements that children’s rhymes and songs share that make them valuable language teaching tools. Each of these three elements encourage babies to listen carefully to language. Like parentese, they are an exaggeration of mature language that keeps babies interested in the complex task of acquiring language. Repetition There are two ways rhymes and songs help children benefit from repetition. First, many nursery rhymes and songs provide recurring lyrics or phrases. Repetition allows the baby to anticipate the words he will hear. It makes it possible for the baby to recognize a favorite rhyme or song as it first begins. Second, it is common practice for parents to repeat rhymes and songs over and over. Because parents have memorized them, nursery rhymes and songs are likely to be repeated in the same way and repeated more frequently than literature that is read. For example, a parent can’t read the child’s favorite book while driving the car, but nursery rhymes are always available for sharing. Repetition of phrases supports that baby’s early stages of memory, when he can associate feelings and actions with stimulation from his surroundings. A familiar lullaby can calm a tired baby because he associates the repeated words with feeling calm and sleepy. Rhythm When reciting a nursery rhyme, the parent’s voice emphasizes particular syllables which form the rhythm associated with these familiar poems and songs. Babies have an inborn sense of beat awareness; from early sucking to banging on a highchair tray, many of the actions they exhibit are rhythmic. The rhythm of song and nursery rhymes reflects this early mode of expression by children. Rhythm attracts babies’ attention. Newborns often calm to rhythmic sounds, such as the sound of a heartbeat. Toddlers seem to be natural “dancers” as they bounce up and down to any music they hear. Rhyme Babies learn language by mentally categorizing sounds into groupings that sound similar. They are born able to hear and process all speech sounds contained in all the world’s languages. But, in order to incorporate a sound into their own speech, they must hear it spoken to them over and over. Rhymes provide practice in hearing the same sound repeated in different words. Educators call the recognition of speech sounds phonemic (or phonological) awareness, and view it as vital to learning language. Early exposure to simple rhymes, and songs that rhyme, give the baby opportunities to develop phonemic awareness, a first step in learning to read. Some researchers feel that one of the best indicators of how easily children will learn to read is their knowledge of nursery rhymes when they enter kindergarten. The traditional attraction parents and children feel toward rhymes and songs probably has little to do with teaching language. Nursery rhymes and songs provide a fun, war m way for parents and babies to play together. They can help attachment develop when they are a regular part of the parent’s loving interactions with their baby. Childhood rhymes, chants, and songs from all cultures and languages are equally effective in promoting language and social development. Celebrating Mom…Happy Mother’s Day! Being a full-time mother is one of the highest salaried jobs... since the payment is pure love. Of all the rights of women, the greatest is to be a mother. When you are a mother, you are never really alone in your thoughts. A mother always has to think twice, once for herself and once for her child. A mother understands what a child does not say. Mothers love is the fuel that enables a normal human being to do the impossible. To the world you might just be one person, Mother's Day Song Original Author Unknown Sung to: "You are my sunshine" |
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May Newsletter |
