Singing Rhymes With Daily Activities

“Listening comprehension precedes reading comprehension”, Mr. Stead said. In order for a child to understand what they are reading, they have to be able to hear and understand spoken language first. A lot of the traditional rhymes, such as ‘Jack and Jill’ and ‘Humpty Dumpty’ contain repetition. The repeated language makes it easy for children to remember words and how they go together.

Learning songs and rhymes is important for children with hearing loss not only for developing language skills but also thinking skills, physical and social and emotional maturity and even early literacy skills.

• When children listen to nursery rhymes, they hear the sounds vowels and consonants make. They learn how to put these sounds together to make words. Nursery rhymes sometimes highlight specific sounds by using alliteration (e.g., Goosey Goosey Gander). This helps children with hearing loss develop their awareness of the sounds within words. This skill is called Phonological Awareness and it is important for learning to read.
• When children sing nursery rhymes, they practice pitch, volume, and voice inflection, as well as the rhythm of language. Songs and rhymes are helpful for children with hearing loss to develop control of these suprasegmental aspects of speech.
• Rhymes and songs introduce children to words and more complex sentences that may not be used in everyday speech. Rhymes pair repetitive language with an enjoyable melody, helping the brain to remember new words, word endings and sentence structures.
• Singing song and rhymes can help with sequencing and auditory memory. Songs and rhymes usually tell a story with a beginning, a middle, and an end. This teaches children that events happen in sequence, and they begin to learn how to understand stories and follow along. As children practice the same songs over and over, they practice recalling longer strings of information and learn the order in which they go together. This will help to extend their auditory memory. Sequencing and auditory memory are important skills for telling stories and reading comprehension.
• Many children with hearing loss exhibit delays in Theory of Mind (ToM). The foundation of ToM is hearing early conversations containing mental state words that describe thoughts, feelings and beliefs. Characters in songs and rhymes experience many different emotions. This can help children with hearing loss learn mental state words and develop their understanding of the emotions and behaviors of others.

You can sing rhymes to promote a child’s listening and language skills anywhere. The best part of this is that you don’t need any toys, resources or devices. Singing lullabies while cuddling and rocking rhythmically will allow your child to become familiar with your voice and the rhythm of your language.

However, it can be hard to think of lots of different songs and how you can use them throughout your day. So, I will give you some examples of songs and rhymes you can sing as you go about your daily activities with your child. Included are links to songs on YouTube for you to become familiar with the lyrics and melody of the suggested songs. We don’t recommend that your child watch the videos, but that you incorporate singing of the songs into your daily activities. These are just suggestions; you can use any children’s songs and rhymes that you know.

Peek-a-boo

Activity: Playtime

Lyrics: Peekaboo! Peekaboo! Peekaboo! Peekaboo! Peekaboo! Peekaboo! I see you!

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Bath Song

Activity: Take a bath

Lyrics: I jump in the bathtub, it’s time to get all clean.

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To help your child become familiar with these songs try using the ‘Auditory Sandwich’.

• First, sing the nursery rhyme with voice only a couple of times.
• Second, sing the nursery rhyme with related toys or add associated hand motion sequences.
• Third, sing the nursery rhyme with voice only one more time.

For example, before your child goes to bed, sing ‘Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star’ with voice only. Then sing the song again once your child is in bed with the actions. And then sing the song with voice only when your child is about to fall asleep.

To support your child to begin to participate in songs, use ‘Auditory Closure’.

• Sing the nursery rhyme to your child every day to help your child to become familiar with the song.
• Sing the nursery rhyme, and then pause before the last word or a fun sound.
• Look expectantly at your child to encourage them to fill in the gap. Depending on your child’s age and stage, they might use an associated action, make a sound, or fill in the next word or phrase.

For example, sing Wheels on the Bus every time you play with a bus toy, see or travel on a bus. Once your child is familiar with the song, sing ‘The wheels on the bus go round and round. Round and round. Round and …..’ Pause and look expectantly at your child to encourage them to fill in the gap.