Do you remember nursery rhymes?
Thursday 8th October 2009, 7:00AM BST.
Traditional children’s nursery rhymes could be heading for extinction, experts have warned.
Rhymes which have been passed down from parent to child for generations are being shunned for more fashionable modern alternatives, they said.
A survey by the charity Booktrust revealed they are seen as too old-fashioned by modern parents – meaning old favourites including Hey Diddle Diddle and Mary Mary Quite Contrary could be forgotten.
Only 36 per cent of the parents surveyed regularly read nursery rhymes with their children, while almost a quarter admitted to having never sung a nursery rhyme with their child.
And more than 20 per cent of young parents claimed not to use them because they were not educational.
But experts said use of the rhymes could play a vital role in children’s language development, and help to form a loving bond between parent and child.
Head of primary education at the Institute of Education, professor Roger Beard, said they were as important now as they had ever been.
He said: “It is not dying out, but it is a recurring concern that parents of young children are not being encouraged to use nursery rhymes as often as they might do.
“Their use is just not as widespread as you might expect, given their enduring appeal and the fact they are so very useful. They help children enjoy playing with language.”
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Shame, they are historical records. Just found out recently that Humpty Dumpty is about a huge cannon and nothing to do with an egg shaped bloke sitting on a wall!! Ring o’Ring o’ Roses is also about bringing out the dead during the Great Plague.
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That’s true. A ‘pocketful of posies’ was supposed to ward off the plague, and sneezing followed by “We all fall down” speaks for itself, really.
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Why does it matter if they’re educational? All the better if they are but what happened to letting kids be kids and having a fun sing song?
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Assuming these ”experts” work in a major city and conducted their ”experiments” in a major city, could it be because only about 36% of children born in major cities are born to ”english” parents?
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Contrary to popular opinion, ‘Ring O Ring O Roses’ is probably not about the Black Death – most scholars will advise the connection is groundless and is a modern (20th century) interpretation.
Back to the article – Providing new rhymes come along that are just as fun & as good at teaching language then does this really matter.
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A visit to the Whitchurh Heritage Centre is a must for anyone interested in nursery rhymes Randolf Caldecott (the Lord of the Nursery) works and illustrations on all the original nursery rhymes made him and them world famous. All the old favourites are there
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The Powerhouse Museum in Sydney has produced an upbeat version of Twinkle Twinkle to celebrate the International Year of Astronomy.
It can be downloaded for free on their website:
http://play.powerhousemuseum.com/space
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re: #5…
http://www.rhymes.org.uk/ring_around_the_rosy.htm
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