Children are born with tremendous potential and capacity for learning. Adults who live with and care for young children play an important role in laying the foundation and setting the stage for language and literacy development, and learning success.

Infants: Responding Immediately - Babies delight in hearing language. Infants coo or babble when you talk or sing to them and soon enter the important back-and-forth interaction that leads to conversations. Dr. Catherine Tamis-LeMonda, of New York University, has studied infant language development and has found that it is very important to respond to babies right away when they start making sounds. This encourages them to keep making sounds, and as these sounds become more complex they lay the foundation of language development.

Toddlers: Singing Nursery Rhymes – When singing nursery rhymes and doing fingerplays like “This Little Piggy Went to Market,” it is important to frequently repeat them. When toddlers learn the rhyme, it gives them confidence in their ability to learn new things. Music makes it easier for them to remember the sequence, and the rhyming words aides their memory. This strategy is particularly helpful for English language learners. Dr. Betty Ansin Smallwood from the Center for Applied Linguistics stated that “Singable Books” increased vocabulary and phonemic awareness. She also said that the benefits of the music increased motivation, enhanced neurological effects, fluency and increased cultural relevancy. She suggested the following technique for children to do:

“Growl your name, howl your name, and stretch it till it’s long.
Chant your name, pant your name, and sing it like a song.”

Preschooler: Actions Rhymes: Older children need to not only sing but need to move when they sing. Movement increases brain development which helps to build a better vocabulary. The strategy she suggests is that the rhymes should be done at first with the whole group, then they should be done with two half groups and finally with a partner. The following action rhyme suggested by Dr. Smallwood is:

“1, 2, 3, 4, Look at me I’m on the floor.
5, 6, 7, 8, No I’m not I’m standing straight.
Help, help, I need love.
Open your arms, I need a hug.
This is my front, this is my back.
This is my bow, where is my clap?”

Dr. Smallwood suggests that soft music be played during center time (freeplay) to reduce stress. She also warns adults not to correct children’s errors because it inhibits them from participating. One of the best techniques she felt to vocabulary mastery is to clap out the syllables in the word and to draw pictures of the words. In my book Teaching with Heart I suggest writing an experience chart of the nursery rhyme and having the children make pictures of some of the words in the rhyme. This technique is called “Rebus.”

Children have more need of models than critics. (Carolyn Coats)