Have you wondered about the reasons behind the widespread appeal of nursery rhymes among kids? Their increased popularity may be due to the benefits it has for kids learning. The Benefits of Learning Rhymes for Kids is undeniable and parents might want to keep reading this article to learn why.
The integration of rhymes into the learning process not only facilitates comprehension for children but also increases their enjoyment of learning. Additionally, it can add an element of amusement for educators guiding young learners in the realms of reading and speech development.
While we often associate rhyming for kids with nursery rhymes, it’s important to know that teaching through rhymes extends beyond those familiar tunes. Rap lyrics, for instance, can be another valuable resource for teaching kids. Engaging in rhyming songs doesn’t solely apply to nursery rhymes; it can also involve singing tunes with rhymes to boost young learners’ ability to absorb information.
Simplified Chart: Teachers’ Responses to Nursery Rhymes Questionnaire
Aspect Evaluated | Positive Responses | Easier Responses |
---|---|---|
Overall Impression of Nursery Rhymes | 92% (Good to Excellent) | |
Pupils’ Enjoyment of Nursery Rhymes | 85% (Fairly to A Lot) | |
Teachers’ Opinion on Word Difficulty | 78% (Fairly Easy to Easy) | |
Teachers’ Opinion on Rhythm Difficulty | 79% (Fairly Easy to Easy) |
What is The Importance of Children’s Rhymes?
Rhyming serves as a valuable tool for young kids in their learning journey and in shaping their perception of the world around them. The sounds produced by rhymes assist kids in comprehending distinctions among words and variations in each sound. Through rhyming, children can grasp which words share similar sounds and which do not, contributing to enhancing their mental word bank.
Rhyming aids kids in recognizing syllables within words by comprehending similar sounds. Furthermore, rhyming serves as a tool to introduce kids to unusual words that may not be commonly used in everyday conversations. This process helps in expanding their vocabulary and enhancing their word usage.
Nursery Rhymes for Kids Development
Nursery rhymes, the most widespread rhymes for kids’ learning, offer benefits beyond literacy, extending to the enhancement of their musical skills. Engaging with rhymes can also foster creativity, contributing to well-rounded development.
Learning nursery rhymes early on can enhance a child’s reading, writing, and spelling skills as they advance to higher grades. Teachers generally hold a favorable view of nursery rhymes, which can contribute to a positive teaching environment. Additionally, educators notice that students respond positively when nursery rhymes are incorporated into teaching, leading to an overall improvement in the classroom learning experience.
The many other benefits of nursery rhymes include listening skills when children hear their parents recite these rhymes. Another perk is learning to pronounce challenging words, which can arise from the tricky vocabulary in nursery rhymes. This process aids in enhancing kids’ speaking abilities as they practice pronouncing these more difficult-sounding words.
Positive Effects of Rap Music
Rap can have the same positive learning effect as nursery rhymes as long as you don’t expose kids to grown-up rap that is full of foul language and profanity. Some people consider rap music as the grown-up version of nursery rhymes, so it should have some or similar positive effects as nursery rhymes.
While rap music can have negative associations, it can also serve as a learning tool for kids if parents enjoy reading it to their kids. This can be beneficial for both parents and children, as parents can have fun teaching kids by rapping them.
Rap music isn’t necessarily bad, as long as parents don’t expose kids to gangster rap or explicit content. Instead, parents can find positive and clean rap music or reading materials to share with their kids. This can serve as an alternative to nursery rhymes if parents become tired of them or simply don’t enjoy reading them.
Learning becomes more effective when educators enjoy teaching, just as much as the learners. Therefore, using rap as a tool can be a valuable addition to the learning toolkit for parents.
Importance of Singing in Education
Rhyming is an effective educational method for instructing children, yet blending rhymes with singing can enhance the process even further. When a song incorporates rhymes, it brings along numerous benefits, especially if rapping or straightforward rhyming isn’t your tune.
Singing offers a range of benefits, including improved memory, emotional control, and even better breathing and good posture. When kids work on enhancing their singing, they naturally learn to manage their breath better.
Using all your breath on the first word of a song isn’t good practice, so if a kid wants to be a good singer they will learn real fast to control their breathing correctly. By learning to sing correctly, kids can grasp when to breathe in and out more effectively.
Additionally, singing helps them develop good posture, especially when hitting high notes in a song. As you can guess, reclining or standing awkwardly is likely very difficult when trying to sing correctly.
Remembering the lyrics to a lengthy song also aids memory, as a kid who recalls only the initial three words to a song won’t go very far. So reciting the song over and over will help in the long term improve their memory.
Benefits of Reading and Singing to Babies
Reading and singing can offer significant advantages to your babies. Since very young kids often rely on your assistance to read and sing, the repetition of words through these activities helps them mimic the sounds. This repetition aids in their ability to eventually speak, even if they haven’t fully developed speech or are still limited in their speaking skills.
Singing to your children can also help establish a strong bond with them, as they perceive you as a trusted and comforting figure in their lives. Singing to your kids is important, and it’s noteworthy that children who struggle with rhythm might face challenges in developing reading skills.
Conclusion
If you have doubts about the advantages of teaching rhymes to your kids, I hope this article has managed to persuade you with its numerous benefits and reasons for imparting rhymes. You have a variety of rhyme types to choose from when teaching your kids to enhance their skills. However, understanding the long-term benefits it offers is crucial, so it’s advisable to teach your kids rhymes regardless of the specific choice.
There are many ways to introduce rhymes to your kids, and it begins with a few alphabet books that make learning highly enjoyable for them.
By AL Tran
Source:
- Hahn, L. E., Benders, T., Fikkert, P., & Snijders, T. M. (2021). Infants’ Implicit Rhyme Perception in Child Songs and Its Relationship With Vocabulary. Frontiers in Psychology, 12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.680882
- Lefebvre, Pascal, et al. “Pilot Study on Kindergarten Teachers’ Perception of Linguistic and Musical Challenges in Nursery Rhymes.” Journal for Learning through the Arts: A Research Journal on Arts Integration in Schools and Communities, vol. 11, no. 1, 30 Dec. 2015, https://doi.org/10.21977/d911112856.
- NPR. “Study: Rap Music Linked to Alcohol, Violence.” NPR.org, 8 May 2006, www.npr.org/2006/05/08/5390075/study-rap-music-linked-to-alcohol-violence.
- Suttie, Jill. “How Music Helps Us Be More Creative.” Greater Good, 17 Nov. 2017, greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/how_music_helps_us_be_more_creative.