The Role of Nursery Rhymes in Your Child's Development
The "Mother Goose" program at the Middletown Township Public Library is an early literacy program for babies (0-23 months). Early literacy encompasses what children know about reading, writing, listening, and speaking before they are able to read or write. During the "Mother Goose" program we sing songs and rhymes because singing allows children to hear the smaller sounds in words (phonological awareness) and learn how to properly pronounce words (Ghoting, 2012).
The finger plays and movements help babies make connections with vocabulary terms. For example, in the song "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" children use their fingers to make a spider go up the water spout. This familiarizes them with spatial awareness (up and down). Additionally, this simple rhyme is simultaneously teaching children about opposites. "One of the best indicators of how well children will learn to read is their ability to recite nursery rhymes when they walk into kindergarten" (as cited in Danielson, 2000, p. 3). Nursery rhymes provide children with the background knowledge they need to read and comprehend more advanced stories when they enter school. Most importantly, spending time with your child and creating memories at the library "in the earliest years builds a positive attitude toward reading and books" (Diamant-Cohen, 2006, p. 17).
References
Danielson, E. (2000). The Importance of Nursery Rhymes.
Diamant-Cohen, B. (2006). Mother Goose on the Loose. New York, New York: Neal-Schuman Publishers.
Ghoting, S. (2012). The Five Practices and the Early Literacy Components Support Each Other. Retrieved from www.earlylit.net
The finger plays and movements help babies make connections with vocabulary terms. For example, in the song "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" children use their fingers to make a spider go up the water spout. This familiarizes them with spatial awareness (up and down). Additionally, this simple rhyme is simultaneously teaching children about opposites. "One of the best indicators of how well children will learn to read is their ability to recite nursery rhymes when they walk into kindergarten" (as cited in Danielson, 2000, p. 3). Nursery rhymes provide children with the background knowledge they need to read and comprehend more advanced stories when they enter school. Most importantly, spending time with your child and creating memories at the library "in the earliest years builds a positive attitude toward reading and books" (Diamant-Cohen, 2006, p. 17).
References
Danielson, E. (2000). The Importance of Nursery Rhymes.
Diamant-Cohen, B. (2006). Mother Goose on the Loose. New York, New York: Neal-Schuman Publishers.
Ghoting, S. (2012). The Five Practices and the Early Literacy Components Support Each Other. Retrieved from www.earlylit.net
