FEEL THE RHYTHM: DEVELOPING LANGUAGE THROUGH RHYTHM AND RHYME

Singing, rhyming, oral storytelling, and reading aloud are essential to helping children learn a language, along with the listening and concentration skills essential for brain development and memory.

Oral language interactions build children’s understanding of the meaning of a larger number of words, and of the world around them. This understanding is crucial to their later reading comprehension and literacy in general. Early language skills also predict later academic achievement and success in adult life.

The power of rhythm and rhyme

Dr Seuss wrote, “The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn the more places you’ll go.” It wasn’t simply his words and wisdom that were important, it was also the rhyme.

Singing, rhyming, and storytelling are part of every culture. By singing and rhyming to children, parents and caregivers are not only keeping traditions alive, they are teaching children to articulate words, practice the pitch, volume and rhythm of their native language, and develop the listening and concentration skills essential for brain development and memory.

Music, in addition to supporting all areas of child development (intellectual, social and emotional, motor, language, and overall literacy), helps the body and mind work together to learn the sounds and meanings of words in a fun and interactive way.

The repetition of words teaches children to anticipate the rhyming word and this, in turn, prepares them to make predictions when they read.