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Chủ Nhật, 3 tháng 11, 2013

Benefits Of Reading Childrens Poems

By Allyson Burke


While poetry may appear to be insignificant in the life of the average adult, it is a form of writing that has many advantages when children are the primary audience. Reading childrens poems may be an excellent way to cultivate certain life skills, such as recognizing rhymes, learning rhythm, and being able to differentiate pitch. It is also a great way to get children into reading, writing, and perhaps even singing.

The first known children's poems were probably better known as nursery rhymes. Early nursery rhymes were originally intended to help children fall sleep, and hence, were called lullabies. They came about in the early to mid 1700's and have always been a good way to keep children occupied.

Over the years, nursery rhymes developed more distinct melodic lines as well as references to historical events. "Baa, Baa, Black Sheep" was a reference to the slave trade and the wool tax in Britain in 1744. "London Bridge is Falling Down" was a reference to the Vikings' conquest. And "Ring Around the Rosie" was a dreadful euphemism for the Bubonic Plague of 1790. Little nursery rhymes such as these were easy to memorize and sing because they were short, rhymed, and had simple melodies.

Repetition and speech is what children learn from the fastest. Singing, speaking, writing, and reading continuously help children develop language skills. Children with a lot of exposure to reading and speaking tend to have superior language comprehension capabilities and accelerated cognitive development by age 3. Poetry and nursery rhymes can teach all of these skills to a child.

Take the nursery rhyme "Ring Around the Rosie", for example. There are four lines, all of which rhyme, all with syllables that fit into the rhythm of the song. It is a very simple yet effective way to teach a child a few words, basic rhythm, and singing without completely boring the child. As mentioned above, children who are exposed to poetry and/or nursery rhymes at an early age are thought to show greater aptitude in music, reading, and even spatial reasoning.

Poems work so well at improving cognitive development because children enjoy poetry. It is important that the work is short in order to compensate for the lack of focus kids tend to have. Visual stimulation from a funny picture also tends to help. Children would probably find it boring to sit though an entire narrative. So today's poetry for children is focused primarily on entertaining children while accelerating their cognitive capabilities. Works by poets like Dr. Seuss or Shel Silverstein come to mind. Short poetry with humorous illustrations would be a lot more stimulating and fun to a child than would a long, arduous novel.

Poems can be seen as the first step to an educated future. If a child develops a love for poetry, he or she will most likely go onto books and novels. These will in turn lead to better vocabulary, a good writing style, and excellent conversational skills. Gaining an interest in poetry is most likely the easiest way to begin such a lifestyle.

Reading poems provide not only academic, but personal benefits too. It encourages the use of one's imagination while keeping them mentally stimulated. Failing grades and juvenile delinquency can potentially be avoided with such methods. Not only that, creativity is a great quality to have as an adult.

Reading childrens poems is such an innocent and unassuming act that one might be surprised by how much good it does for the child. But there are reasons why poetry and nursery rhymes from the 1700's are still around today. Reading simple poetry every night may almost be the best thing one can do for a child's future.




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