The benefits of nursery rhymes
Nursery rhymes are a great way for your child to develop a range of skills in a fun way. That is why we have chosen this theme as a focus for our transition resources. Research into literacy and child development has found that children who know 8 nursery rhymes by heart by the time they start school are far more likely to become confident readers and spellers.
Nursery rhymes offer a rich source of learning for a number of reasons:
- Nursery rhymes are a great way to learn early phonic skills (the ability to hear, identify and manipulate letter sounds).
- Nursery rhymes give children practice in pitch, volume and rhythm when talking.
- Nursery rhymes expand your child’s imagination.
- Nursery rhymes follow a clear sequence of events. This helps children understand how stories work.
- Nursery rhymes are easy to repeat. They offer a rich way to learn about sentence structure.
- Nursery rhymes improve a child’s vocabulary.
- Nursery rhymes are fun!
- Nursery rhymes are intergenerational. They have been known and loved for many years. They are a perfect way for children to connect with family members.
- Many nursery rhymes develop numeracy skills through counting and numbers.
A weekly challenge for you to try
Each week, we will share nursery rhymes with some fun activities you can try to help your child with learning the rhymes. We will share a range of rhyme themes, including traditional rhymes and counting rhymes. As your child becomes more familiar with each rhyme, encourage them to join in and say parts of the rhyme themselves (it will take a while before they can recite whole rhymes independently).
You can find all of the rhymes here: Nursery Rhymes
Some of our activities have been inspired by free resources from “Play to Learn Virtual Preschool” (https://playtolearnpreschool.us/virtual-preschool/). We give thanks to them for the inspiration and ideas for some of our nursery rhyme challenges. Please do check out their website for lots of other thematic early years activities and ideas.
Remember that nursery rhymes are portable! They can be enjoyed anytime, anyplace and anywhere! Share them at bath time, when getting ready for bed, whilst cooking tea or in the car.
Share with us
We would love to see the fun you have with the nursery rhymes we have shared. You can Tweet your learning to @OurLadysPS or email the school on ourladys.primary@dundeecity.gov.uk .
This would be a great way for us to get to know your child before we welcome them into our school.
*The overview of the benefits of nursery rhymes and the weekly challenges transition project can also be found in PDF format here: Overview.*
