Songs, Rhymes & Early Literacy Development

and a free playlist to sing along with!

How Simple Songs & Rhymes Help Support Language & Early Literacy Development. I really like to share songs and rhymes for toddlers, babies, and kids. I love to share them because they’re fun, easy to do, and they have a lot of benefits when it comes to speech and language development.

I’ve shared some on Instagram in the past but wanted to dive in a little more and share about some of the ways that songs and rhymes help with early literacy development, and why I recommend adding them to your daily routine as your toddler or preschooler is preparing to learn to read and write.

Songs, Rhymes & Early Literacy Development

Kids are so impressive, aren’t they?

They learn and grow so quickly, and sometimes it feels like they’re reaching new little mini milestones every day! And as if that isn’t amazing enough, think of all of the growth happening behind the scenes. All the development they’re experiencing, but that we can’t actually see.

My goal with this post is to give you a little insight into your child’s literacy development, so you can start to “see” and nurture the skills they’re learning day-to-day. Once you know what they’re learning, you’ll be able to effortlessly make early literacy skill development part of your daily rhythm. Using songs and rhymes is a great way to go about doing this because:

1. Most of us know at least one or two songs or rhymes already, so there isn’t a huge learning curve.

2. They don’t require any set up, supplies or materials, so they’re something you can start doing right way! This also makes them a great activity for when you’re out of the house and on the go.

3. Little ones tend to love music and it captures their attention. They gain so much by doing this with us.

The Benefits of Songs & Rhymes for Early Literacy Development

Vocabulary

There’s a reason for all the repetition in children’s songs and rhymes. Simply put, repetition helps teach language and vocabulary. Whether you’re singing about animals, food, or nature, your child is learning and making sense of the vocabulary words as they are singing. Plus, often times, simple songs can really engage them and they are fun! We all learn best when we are having fun.

Movement helps solidify learning

If you think about it, when we want to learn a new skill, we practice, practice, practice it. We might even go through the motions if it’s something complicated, like learning how to drive or perform CPR. When kids are learning something new, it’s the same thing. Songs with gestures and movement can help the words really come to life. Think about it… saying “up” while putting our hands “up” as we may do in a simple song, all of a sudden becomes a lot more concrete and meaningful for little ones. It can also help them “feel” and get a sense of the words and sounds.

Phonemic & phonological awareness

Two essential pre reading skills that might not be aware of are phonemic and phonological awareness. Simple songs and rhymes are so great because they’re giving your child a chance to practice their phonemic awareness (their ability to recognize the smallest units of sound, like b, th, k, etc.), and their phonological awareness (their ability to recognize the smallest sound units within words, like “ra” and “bit” in rabbit), without even knowing it!

Phonological awareness is a broad skill that includes identifying and manipulating units of oral language – parts such as words, syllables, and rhyming words. Children who have phonological awareness are able to identify and make oral rhymes, can clap out the number of syllables in a word, and can recognize words with the same initial sounds like 'monkey' and 'mother.' The ability to manipulate language in this manner, is an indicator for strong literacy skills as they grow.