When you sing nursery rhymes for your children, you could be telling the same poems and tales that, in a few form, were told by firelight from parents for their children centuries ago, it mat be as far back as the Middle Ages. Determining the origins of such famous tales before these were written down doesn't seem possible, but many have made guesses regarding their early roots. "Ring Around the Rosy" may reference the swollen cysts that afflicted the sick through the Black Death. You might be recalling an old Welsh king in "Old King Cole" who drowned in a swamp 1700 years back, as well as in poemas para niños "Little Miss Muffet" the daughter of a bug expert in Shakespearean England, or perhaps a queen beheaded to be with her Catholic faith in "Mary Mary Quite Contrary." These stories already went through so many changes over the centuries why these meanings -if they did originate of these long-ago dark circumstances -are mostly obscured.
"Many of such songs were not originally for children," says Kay Vandergrift, Professor Emerita of Children's Literature at Rutgers University. Most of those songs were part of an oral-based society that relayed news, spread coded rumors about authority figures, and resolved its moral dilemmas (for youngsters and adults) in rhyme and song. And existing nonsense rhymes that were portion of this oral tradition might be used or adapted to make references to current events. It was in the nineteenth century, when Victorian society sentimentalized childhood and romanticized "quaint" times from your past, that most nursery rhymes were written down and presented as for children only.
How are these poems-inhabited by kings, queens and peasants of the rural past predating electricity, television and computers-still relevant to twenty-first-century kids and parents? If we are to date removed through the world that hatched these rhymes, how is it that we still read them? Some of the reasons people sang nursery rhymes to each other within the past remain why you should do so today. Here are four significant reasons nursery rhymes could be beneficial for the kids:
1. They are great for the brain. Not only does the repetition of rhymes and stories teach children how language works, in addition, it builds memory capabilities that can be applied to a number of activities. Furthermore, as Vandergrift points out, nursery rhyme books in many cases are a child's first experience with literacy: "Even before they could read, children can sit and learn how a book works." This also includes the pictures and music related to nursery rhymes: this is a full visual and oral experience.
2. Nursery rhymes maintain a culture that spans generations, providing something in keeping among parents, grandparents and kids-and also between people that do not know each other. Seth Lerer, Humanities Professor in the University of California San Diego and expert inside the history of children's literature, says that reading nursery rhymes to kids is, simply, "to participate in a very long tradition ... it's a shared ritual, there's almost a religious quality with it."
3. They are an excellent group activity. Susie Tallman, that has put out several award-winning nursery rhymes CDs, which is a nursery school music teacher, describes how singing nursery rhymes allows all kids-even shy ones-to feel confident about singing, dancing and performing as they are so easy to recognize and fun: "It builds confidence in front of my eyes," she says. "They really begin to see the connection between movement, rhythm and words." She has also had kids of various ages collaborate on making music videos for his or her favorite nursery rhymes.
"Many of such songs were not originally for children," says Kay Vandergrift, Professor Emerita of Children's Literature at Rutgers University. Most of those songs were part of an oral-based society that relayed news, spread coded rumors about authority figures, and resolved its moral dilemmas (for youngsters and adults) in rhyme and song. And existing nonsense rhymes that were portion of this oral tradition might be used or adapted to make references to current events. It was in the nineteenth century, when Victorian society sentimentalized childhood and romanticized "quaint" times from your past, that most nursery rhymes were written down and presented as for children only.
How are these poems-inhabited by kings, queens and peasants of the rural past predating electricity, television and computers-still relevant to twenty-first-century kids and parents? If we are to date removed through the world that hatched these rhymes, how is it that we still read them? Some of the reasons people sang nursery rhymes to each other within the past remain why you should do so today. Here are four significant reasons nursery rhymes could be beneficial for the kids:
1. They are great for the brain. Not only does the repetition of rhymes and stories teach children how language works, in addition, it builds memory capabilities that can be applied to a number of activities. Furthermore, as Vandergrift points out, nursery rhyme books in many cases are a child's first experience with literacy: "Even before they could read, children can sit and learn how a book works." This also includes the pictures and music related to nursery rhymes: this is a full visual and oral experience.
2. Nursery rhymes maintain a culture that spans generations, providing something in keeping among parents, grandparents and kids-and also between people that do not know each other. Seth Lerer, Humanities Professor in the University of California San Diego and expert inside the history of children's literature, says that reading nursery rhymes to kids is, simply, "to participate in a very long tradition ... it's a shared ritual, there's almost a religious quality with it."
3. They are an excellent group activity. Susie Tallman, that has put out several award-winning nursery rhymes CDs, which is a nursery school music teacher, describes how singing nursery rhymes allows all kids-even shy ones-to feel confident about singing, dancing and performing as they are so easy to recognize and fun: "It builds confidence in front of my eyes," she says. "They really begin to see the connection between movement, rhythm and words." She has also had kids of various ages collaborate on making music videos for his or her favorite nursery rhymes.
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