Nursery rhymes have been around for hundreds of years.  Are they outdated and worn thin? Or could they be just as important today as they were three or four hundred years ago?

The truth is, nursery rhymes have stood the test of time because they are critical to early childhood development.  Here are seven reasons why:

1. Nursery rhymes are the best preparation for the development of more complex speaking skills. That's because they are loaded with developmentally appropriate basic sounds, words and phrases that make up our language.
2. Traditional nursery rhymes and Mother Goose are still the best way to begin teaching reading, language, literacy and counting skills. Plus, if you let your child "read along" by showing him/her the printed text that goes with each rhyme, it's a great way to familiarize your child with letters, sounds and words in print and numbers.
3. Nursery rhymes help develop intelligence. When you add movement while chanting nursery rhymes (as in finger plays, clapping to the beat or playing another type of rhythmical game), both sides of your child's brain are accessed at the same time - and that's always a big plus for learning and brain development.
4. Nursery rhymes boost mind-body brain development. Since many rhymes are sung, this lead to musical experiences, which again access both sides of your child's brain at the same time. When you add appropriate movement at the appropriate time (as when the song is extremely familiar) you boost mind-body brain development exponentially.
5. Traditional nursery rhymes encourage left-right brain coordination, the acquisition of motor skills and musical fluency. Repeating songs with movements over a period of time also accesses parts of the brain that nothing else can access.

Early childhood is the perfect time for this type of brain development.  If a child doesn't get ample experiences in singing and moving rhythmically to simple tunes in childhood, its extremely difficult to make up for that later.  Ultimately a lack of mind-body brain and left-right brain coordination experiences can slow a child's learning in other subjects such as reading and math, as well as slow learning and coordination in general.

6. Mother Goose and traditional nursery rhymes teach the rhythm of the language, along with the nuances. Every language has its own rhythm. The best way to learn the rhythm and the nuances is hear them and practice them until they are second nature.
7. Although WE may think they're old, nursery rhymes are brand new to each new crop of toddlers. Today's toddlers have never heard the traditional nursery rhymes before.

The reason that nursery rhymes have lasted throughout the ages is because they are developmentally perfect for young children.  The best thing you can do for your young child is to involve him or her in a rich experience of nursery rhymes - teach the rhymes, read the rhymes, move to the rhymes and color illustrations of them.  Repeat regularly, and you'll have a child well on their way to good learning.

An excellent way to let nursery rhymes work their magic is with the
"40 Favorite Nursery Rhymes and Songs" Children's CD.

The CD includes the best of Mother Goose as well as traditional Old English and American nursery rhymes and songs performed in a fun, child-appropriate way. Children never tire of singing and reading along with with these nursery rhymes.

I'm sometimes asked if nursery rhymes are still relevant.

Asking if nursery rhymes are still relevant is like asking if learning to speak, read and write is still relevant.  The truth is, there is nothing better than nursery rhymes to prepare your child for speech and  literacy.

I often wonder if one of the reasons literacy rates have dropped so much in the last 30 years is because children today are exposed to less and less nursery rhymes.

Consider this:  nursery rhymes have been around for hundreds of years.  Nothing can survive that long unless it is proven to be worthy or useful. 

Why Are Nursery Rhymes So Useful

Rhymes were used in olden days to help children learn to read, count, rhyme, learn vocabulary and string words together, especially to a meter.  They survived to this day because nothing accomplishes the job better.

Nursery Rhymes Are Packed With Learning Elements

Why are nursery rhymes such valuable teaching tools?  Much of the answer lies in their simplicity. They are short, catchy, rhythmic, easy to memorize.  But most importantly, they contain real-world language elements that promote "learning by osmosis."  The words, rhythms, meter and phrasing in nursery rhymes "sink in" to a child's mind without the child even trying.  Actually, while the child is having fun with the rhyme!

With nursery rhymes, the learning happens automatically simply by hearing, chanting, learning and playing with the rhyme.  It's the natural way children learn.  So parents don't have to worry about missing any important pedagogical elements - they're built in.

In addition the unique qualities of nursery rhymes stimulate both sides of the brain to work.  When the right and left hemispheres of the brain work in synchrony on a regular basis, higher intelligence develops.

Children Love Nursery Rhymes

Children love nursery rhymes and never tire of them (until they outgrow them starting at about 8 years old).  There are so many things to learn in any given rhyme that children need constant repetition of the rhyme over a period of years to absorb them all.  And again, the learning takes place unconsciously, without effort, simply by repeating, reading, chanting, playing with and enjoying the rhyme.

There's No Better Way For A Child To Learn

Does learning get better than this?  No method of learning can match children learning automatically while having fun and using both sides of the brain can ever become obsolete.  Long live the humble nursery rhyme!

I'm Rufina James and I'm your host at the Nursery Rhymes Blog.  I'll be discussing nursery rhymes and how they relate to literacy and learning as well as how they relate to music and culture and I'll even get into childhood education. 

There is much to say and I hope you come back to read more soon.