If it passes the test of
time... it must be one of mother goose nursery rhymes! Have you met a
person who doesn't have a favorite mother goose nursery rhyme?
I haven't.
What is it about those little short poems that capture our hearts as
children and remain with us our whole life?
The magic of these nursery rhymes lies in their ability to:
Relate to children's experiences. In
Eytan's preschool the teachers always tell the kids: "Hold on to the
railing, so you wont fall like Jack and Jill."
Develop children's sense of
humor.
Sharpen children's creativity and
imagination. Have you ever seen a cow jump over the moon? I rest my
case.
While singing these fun
nursery rhymes with your child you might not realize that:
You
are actually helping children develop their vocabulary in two ways:
Increasing their word knowledge and teaching them more complex richer
vocabulary. It's been proven that children with strong language skills
will do better at reading.
Introducing
them to rhyming. A key element in letter sound recognition
You
are sharpenning their sense of hearing. A fundamental element in
mathematics.
I
will be the first to admit (and
surely many will follow), that I can not carry a tune and that, I have
a
HORRIBLE voice. Luckily my audiance (my kids in class and at home) is
not judgemental. I sing with them as often as I can and they enjoy it
becasue I enjoy it.
So do not be afraid, warm up your voices and let's sing!!
