We all know that kids love nursery rhymes, but did you know that they are also a really great way to prepare a small child’s brain for language; boosting their speech and language development.
Almost all cultures have a repertoire of songs that are traditionally sung to children. They were initially developed as a tool in order to assist the learning of language as they teach the fundamental rules of the child’s native language. However, today they are just seen as a nice activity that children enjoy, people do not realise how remarkable a child’s brain is and that hearing a nursery rhyme stimulates many parts of their brain.
There is a lot of emphasis put on encouraging children to read and promotion around the importance of parents reading to their children. However, singing is rarely endorsed even though nursery rhymes are great language models that will help develop the same key areas as reading. For example;
- early speech sound awareness
- pre-reading skills
- building vocabulary
- basic concepts
Nursery rhymes are also great because you can get started right away – a child is never too young to hear and enjoy nursery rhymes. They are so effective because:
- The rhythm and melody help children to learn and understand the use of intonation in speech (conveying emotion in language).
- The rhymes and alliteration help the child to develop phonological awareness (the sound structure that makes up words) which is essential when learning to read later in life.
- Songs with actions not only engage a child but also encourage the child to dance along which is developing their balance, co-ordination, body awareness and rhythm.
- Songs which are full of early developmental sounds e.g. p, b, t, d, k, g, can encourage good listening and speaking skills.
- The repetition and pace (generally slower then speech) make it easier for the child to pick up on the language that they are hearing.
Children can hear nursery rhymes in lots of different places, for example, if your child goes to a nursery/play-group or on children’s TV programmes. However, babies are particularly responsive when the songs they here come from their parents or main carers. It is recommended that you sing to your child everyday. This may sound a lot but it is easy to add songs to your daily routine; during nappy changes or when playing, and it can help to avoid language problem developing in the future. It is also important to sing to a child face to face so they are able to pick up on and learn from non-verbal cues, facial expressions and lip movement.
It is never too early to start working on speech and language development and singing nursery rhymes is the perfect way to start. If you need some inspiration then the internet is a great place with websites such as http://www.nurseryrhymes.com giving you lots of examples; new and old.
Integrated Treatment Services is a national company that offers a variety of different therapy services. If you would like any advice or feel your child may benefit from some support with their language development then you can contact the team on: 0845 838 2921 or simply email: info@integratedtreatments.co.uk. This highly experienced team have been helping children for 10 years so you will be in safe hands.
Laura Oldakowska
Speech and Language Therapist
June 2013
Flickr: Image Credit: Cieleke: CC Licensed
