There are many studies that show the importance of understanding rhyme as a precursor to learning to read. Rhyme helps us identify the sounds in words, plus, it’s fun! Many of us grew up learning nursery rhymes on our parents’ knees, or reading rhyming books like Dr Seuss. My kinder years were filled with singing along to nursery rhymes like ‘Jack and Jill’ and ‘Humpty Dumpty’. Many children today have not been exposed to nursey rhymes and have missed out on a valuable opportunity to develop an important awareness of words and sounds prior to learning to read.
When children become familiar with rhyme, they understand that some letters and sounds sound alike. Research shows us that being exposed to rhyme early on is closely related to the development of phonological and reading skills. It is so important to be able to discriminate sounds and hear rhyming patterns in words. This helps our children to notice and understand sounds within words and words in sentences. Rhyming can improve emergent skills in reading, speech, vocabulary and cognitive development to name just a few.
I’m just smiling to myself as I’m writing this thinking about all the silly rhyming songs my daughter and I used to make up when she was younger. (Who am I kidding? We still do that and she’s in her 20s!). My husband used to read ‘Green Eggs and Ham’ to her so often she ended up knowing ALL the words.
Listening to nursery rhymes, rhyming songs or reading rhyming books like Dr Seuss can be loads of fun, not only for our children, but for us as well. I apologise in advance if the tune to ‘Incy Wincy Spider’ stays in your head for days!
There are many ways we can incorporate rhyming into our daily lives. Download nursery rhyme songs and listen to them in the car, (I just found lists of them on Spotify!) sing them together, make up games where you and your child have to find a word that rhymes with something you can see at home, in the shops, anywhere! Play SNAP or BINGO with cards that rhyme. Read nursery rhyme books together and invest in some fabulous rhyming picture story books like Dr Seuss or Julia Donaldson’s Room on a Broom. Your child will love predicting the word that comes next and will no doubt drive you mad asking for you to read the same book over and over! If they do, GREAT! You are working together to help your child become a great reader.
“You're never too old, too wacky, too wild, to pick up a book and read to a child.” - Dr Seuss
Happy reading!
Sue