Once upon a time, a long, long, LONG time ago; every child in the land knew the words to Humpty Dumpty, Hickory Dickory Dock, and Sing a Song of Six-pence... rhythm and rhyme were a part of every child's vocabulary.
Remember those days? Do you remember those rhymes? Now journey into the present and visit today's preschool age children. Many of these children do not know the magic that comes with the rhythm and rhyme of language. They are missing the very first foundational skill of reading--phonemic awareness. Phonemic Awareness is described by the National Reading Panel as "the understanding that sounds of spoken language work together to make words.” (Reading First, 2001)
Knowing how to rhyme and discriminate sounds is the foundational piece to a child's early success with reading. We are so fortunate now to have many books today that incorporate rhyme. Many authors, including Dr. Suess, have brought us another dimension to the rhythm of language.
One of the early warning signs of dyslexia is that a child struggles with rhyming. (See the warning signs on the Excel Achievement Center website.) This is a problem associated with auditory processing. My youngest son used to struggle with this as a child. He could not decipher between the words that rhymed from the words that didn't. He also struggled with name recall--another warning sign also having to do with an auditory processing deficit. Name recall is when a child cannot remember a name of a person or object after it has been told to him repeatedly. (My son asked me what my sister's name was every time that she came over.) Since his father has dyslexia, I found it imperative to begin an early intervention with him so that he would only know success in school.
Because my son is a hands-on (kinesthetic) learner, he did not enjoy the traditional nursery rhyme books that I had used in the past with his older brother. These books did not have enough "action" for him. So, I had to take a different approach. I decided to add action to these nursery rhymes to make them come to life. The black birds would "peck off his nose"(my fingers would tweak his nose), Humpty Dumpty would really fall (I'd have him fall off my lap), and the mouse managed to climb up the clock (my fingers crawling up his arm). He and I worked really hard on rhyming together. On top of this, he also received early intervention tutoring at Excel Achievement Center.
Because early intervention methods were used with him at the early age of four, he is now a second grader reading at the third grade level. He has never struggled in school because of the interventions that we did outside of school.
Can reading nursery rhymes and poetry books completely treat an auditory processing problem? No, of course not. However, it is one way to assist children in falling in love with language and experience of reading. It is also a way to begin helping our children to love the magic that comes with the rhythm and rhyme of language.
I have always enjoyed nursery rhymes, and I am glad they are making somewhat of a comeback to our children. I was not aware of the enrichment they offered in helping students with their reading. I was also not aware of how a lack of rhyming skills could be a sign of dislexia.
ReplyDeleteI read the classic nursery rhymes to my children when they were young, and I was surprised to know how few of his friends knew any of the classics. We are a very musical family, so we enjoyed the rhythm as well as the rhyme of nursery rhymes. I am glad I read these to my children, and I plan on using them in the elementary classrooms. Are we ever too old for nursery rhymes? I hope not, because they seem to hold a value greater than just being fun.
MO
I, as a child, was also exposed to nursery rhymes. I had this big yellow book that contained all of the classics, which is now torn because it was read too much. I was also surprised how the lack rhyming skills were a sign of dislexia.
ReplyDeleteI was nannying for a family this summer and was surprised when they didn't know the words to some of my favorite nursery rhymes. I throught this was something that every child knew. I love how you made it into a game for your son also to make it more hands on and active. Nursery rhymes provide so many rich words and ways or using words. Like you said, it is a starting point to help kids "love words".