
You can't catch me, I'm the gingerbread _ (man). Once your child has been exposed to nursery or other rhymes, ask him to finish your sentence with the correct rhyming word. For example, you could include a picture of a cat, bat, rat, and hat to learn about the -at word family. Cut pictures out of a magazine or print them from the Internet to make your own rhyming book. Ask your Children's Librarian for suggestions.

Change the lyrics to some of your favorite songs or make up a silly rhyme about your day. Nonsense rhymes are fun for kids and still teach them about sounds. Remember all those rhymes from when you were a child? Don't worry if you don't! JCPL has a large nursery rhyme collection to help you out. Here are some other things you can do to encourage this skill in your child: Your child loves the sound of your voice, so sing loudly and proudly, and they'll join you, learning along the way. What can you do to encourage phonological awareness in your child? The great news is that it's easy! Sing away and have fun while you're doing it. This skill is called phonological awareness, and it's one skill children need to learn how to read.

Songs, rhymes, and rhythm help your child hear the smaller parts in words, the sounds and the syllables. Why is this? Both rhyming and singing help children learn how language works. Simply put, kids that spend time singing and rhyming as babies, toddlers, and preschoolers are more likely to be ready to read as they enter school. What do all of these rhymes have in common? Besides being just plain fun to say, research shows that a child's knowledge of nursery rhymes and other common childhood songs is one of the best predictors for reading readiness in kindergarten students.

Hickory Dickory Dock, the mouse ran up the clock. Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall, Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. Hey diddle diddle, the cat and the fiddle.
