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Early Literacy: The Importance of Rhyming


Do you feel a certain nostalgia when you hear a favorite nursery rhyme from your childhood?  There’s a reason those sing-song favorites have stood the test of time.  Nursery rhymes, and rhyming in general, cannot be over-valued for language development and for building the pre-literacy skills that lead to reading success. 
 

Rhyming teaches children how language works and improves phonemic awareness

Rhyming plays an important role in teaching children how language works and how it is read on a page. When we speak, we are essentially making meaning from speech sounds that have been combined in meaningful patterns. Rhyming repeats and combines these patterns in predictable ways. Through lots of repetition, young children begin to recognize that many of these sound combinations come in families and begin to anticipate them – cat, sat, mat, rat, for example.

Phonemic awareness is an understanding that letters of the alphabet have a corresponding sound. It is a fundamental pre-reading skill.  Rhyming words make it easier for adults to point out these correspondences and for children to identify them.

Rhyming teaches children about intonation and correct pronunciation

Every language has a particular rhythm or cadence that comes about through intonation and pacing.  Intonation can be thought of as the natural higher or lower pitch, or emphasis, we put on certain letter sounds or syllables within words or words within phrases.  It is one of the foundations of expressive language.  We typically become aware of intonation when listening to someone learning a second language, whose emphasis on certain letter sounds or syllables seems just a little off.  Rhyming has a wonderful way of highlighting the natural intonation and pacing of our language, making it particularly helpful for expressive language development.  And because rhyming provides lots of repetition of sound patterns and word families, it makes it much easier for children to learn the correct pronunciation of words.
 
Rhyming fosters creativity and imagination

Nursery rhymes are often whimsical and fantastical – Hey Diddle, Diddle, the Cat and the Fiddle comes to mind. They introduce young children to the idea that anything goes on the printed page or in songs or stories.  It is an early introduction to the role of imagination in reading and writing and should be encouraged.  Story-time should be a safe and fun place to let the imagination run wild. 

Rhyming songs and nursery rhymes are comforting and familiar 

Build up your repertoire of nursery rhymes and songs and you can take them anywhere. Not only will it help your child’s memory development, but you’ll have a song or verse at the ready wherever you are and in any situation.  Think of them the way you would a security blanket or favorite toy. Nothing wards off an impending tantrum better than the right song at the right time.  The same goes as a distraction for unwanted behavior.  Many nursery rhymes fit wonderfully into day-to-day routines and can be sung each time a particularly activity is performed, Rub-a-Dub-Dub at bath time, for example.  Children love the predictability that comes from hearing the same song or nursery rhyme over and over again.

Rhyming songs and nursery rhymes make play time fun

Young children are naturally drawn to music and movement.  With rhyming songs and nursery rhymes they can jump, bounce, skip, and hop to their hearts’ content.  These coordinated movements help them identify the sound patterns for learning to speak, read, and write.  Help them by clapping along, and encourage them to act out the words by doing so yourself.  Gross motor development and social skills are added benefits, and this type of play is sure to put a smile on your face, so everybody wins.

BEGIN WITH BOOKS favorites, past and present

Dolly Parton’s panel of early childhood literacy experts on the Imagination Library's book selection committee know the importance of rhyme to language development, so if you’ve been enrolled for a while, you already have the perfect rhyming books on your bookshelf.  Many of our favorites are pictured above.  Please vote for your favorite Imagination Library rhyming book in the Comments section.

-- Caron Bell, PhD, Early Childhood Development, and beginwithbooks.org volunteer












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