Nursery rhyme knowledge provides an excellent foundation for later literary works.Listening comprehension is a foundational skill that is often skipped, but nursery rhymes can help ensure this crucial ability (that precedes reading comprehension) is covered.The mouth and tongue muscles are developed as children say these rhymes.Nursery rhymes are excellent, the natural choice for a first recitation selection.
Rhymes like these help kids articulate words, modulate voices (practicing pitch, volume, and inflection) and enunciate clearly by saying them over and over without fear of criticism.They help children develop auditory skills such as discriminating between sounds and developing the ear for the music of words.Nursery rhymes are important for language acquisition and help with speech development.Because these verses are made up of patterns, they are easy first memorization pieces.Nursery rhymes help develop inferencing skills, both with encountering new words and in reading comprehension.Repetition of rhymes and stories is good for the brain, teaching how language works and building memory capabilities.So try to grin and bear it (and start a round of “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” while you’re at it!) as you learn all the ways nursery rhymes can positively affect your toddler or preschooler: Cognitive development Phonemic skill development gained from nursery rhymes has even been scientifically shown to significantly improve reading, spelling and other literacy skills (Harper, 2011)! After all, aren’t they just outdated (and often politically incorrect) collections of pseudo-history, most of which don’t even make sense in today’s society?īut before you try to rid yourself of these earworms by digging them out of your head with a spoon, read this list.īelieve it or not, nursery rhymes are incredibly powerful influencers in preschool development. You start to wonder why you’re allowing these antiques into your house in the first place. These ditties seem fairly innocuous at first, but it doesn’t take long before you’re going bonkers from hearing “The Itsy Bitsy Spider” for the 4,783 rd time. If you’re the parent of a toddler or preschooler, then you probably learned early on that you can’t easily escape nursery rhymes.