Nursery rhymes . a waste of time? Teaching young children to recite the alphabet, memorise nursery rhymes or play musical instruments may be a waste of time, according to research. Parents who spend hours educating children outside school have little impact on their future results, it was claimed.
The effect on children's language, literacy and social development was the same irrespective of how much time parents spent trying to improve their skills, said the Warwick University study.
The conclusions come despite repeated calls from the Government to get parents involved in their children's education. - Graeme Paton, the Daily Telegraph.
As an aunty to three, I have always believed in the importance of nursery rhymes and books both as a fun way to learn as well as a way to feel close to our nieces and nephew. Having helped raise Niece #1 and Nephew I always felt this was a positive thing to do and I still do.
All of this was further confirmed by my teaching assistant training - I mean we all agreed that the parents who took a real interest in their children's education, the parents who took time to read with their children, the parents who had fun with books/rhymes etc well, it showed in their children's wish to learn and very often in their children's use of language - so to be told it all may be a waste of time ......... what utter rubbish.
OK, so even if it was to be proven that all these activities had little or no impact on an educational level, what about the sheer joy of spending time with your children, of opening their eyes to a range of activities just for the sheer fun of it?
Too angry to write more. What do you think?
Off visiting my fellow bloggers as I do, I came across this INTERESTING POST over at Satisfaction For Insatiable Readers which looked at a book called Richard Wright And The Library Card which was about :-
"a young black man making his way in the world as society dictated...working, keeping his head down, and not asking questions. Acceptable to some as a full life worth living, but Mr. Wright had other ideas. You see, he had a burning desire to read, not only for enjoyment, but in the hopes of one day being able to change the hand he'd been dealt."Which got me to thinking what if Richard Wright had been told that reading would not in any way, shape or form change the hand he had been dealt? Hmm, interesting. Anyway to read Gina's thoughts on the book simply click on the link above.
21 comments:
To what extent you are going to be able to help a child at home is based on that child's personality and abilities. I am sure that for some kids it doesn't help, but the vast majority it undoubtedly does. I think that study is just a bunch of bunk!!
As a mother of two and as a daughter whose mother read to her regularly as a child, can I just say what utter rubbish this study is? I'm 40 and I'm still reading and reading to my 4 year old because I was read to and participated in nursery rhymes as a child.
Love you blog's tagline BTW.
Aww...thanks for the shout out Petty Witter! ^_^ Making MY blog rounds as usual, yours is certainly a site I stop at each day (or almost) and I can always count on an interesting post of some sort. Today's...what rubbish (not your thoughts on it, but their "research claims")! That's crazy talk. Aside from the sheer enjoyment which I too thoroughly find, it certainly does help their skills develop over time. I mean practice makes perfect...so there's one point, but at the very least it instills the value of reading in them...something that will last a lifetime. Great post...and something to think about. ^_^
Boo Hiss. This is what I believe you Brits call rubish. You can find a study no days to support just about any crack brained theory you want to throw out there. And even if reading to kids and speinding time teaching them outside of school doesn't help, I can tell you for sure it doesn't hurt. I can't even imagine how you could produce a valid test of such a subjective thing.
Grrrr, thanks for bringing this up, even though steam is coming out of my ears now.
That's a load of bull! Which kids were they studying and who paid for it?
That's a load of bull! Which kids were they studying and who paid for it?
It's telling me I failed the capcha test try again, but publishing my comments...Blogger getting wonky again...sorry.
I agree with Jen...My daughters were able to read before kindergaten and it is helping them in school. Plus you are right it helps with bonding.
Sigh, I wonder what exactly they were looking at as far as language, social development, etc. I can understand that the odd enthusiasm to try to produce little prodigies (Baby Mozart, etc) is probably worthless, but singing and reading develop more than can be measured. For one thing, these activities create warm and fond memories, a sense of place, of being cared for and listened to. You can listen to the TV but it won't listen back.
Hmm you do have a point there..and it can only pay everywhich way to bond with our kids.
When children learn respect for and the importance of books from an early age, and I do mean early, it will improve their life immeasurably. We read to our child almost from birth. He couldn't have been more than a month old before we started. It was just part of our routine. After watching some friends actually let their children tear up books as a part of "letting them explore their world" I know we probably stunted his growth by teaching him not to destroy books as a matter of course. As a result of that, he is now reading his favorite books from his early childhood to his child.
I agree. It helps spending quality time with the kids. However, some parents over do it. They want to live out their fantasy through their kids. I know an Indian parent in USA has enrolled her daughter in soccer, Indian classical dance, ballet, piano lesson, and girls scout. How much a small child can take?
A waste of time??? NEVER!! I love nursery rhymes! I loved hearing and learning them as a child and enjoyed sharing them with my own kids. I'm still known to quote them from time to time.
I read to all three of my kids when they were little and only one of them is what I'd call an avid reader as an adult. Still...I totally advocate reading to them as children.
WHAT??
Reading to and with children at home is important on so many levels. Nursery rhymes are a great way to begin--they are simple and fun, and the sounds captivate young ears. Raising children to be readers is essential to their futures and starts in the home, which is hopefully full of two important ingredients: books and love.
Rubbish!
Thousands of other studies confirm that reading, singing and reciting rhymes to your children (and speaking with them, of course) stimulate their language skills and their vocabulary. How should children get a large vocabulary if they are not introduced to words, loads of words?
I disagree entirely! I believe learning about Tom Thumb (was that his name?) sticking his thumb in the pie and pulling out a plum is a very important thing to learn!
Needless to say, I'm on your side. :)
There are so many things in life that might not be "worthwhile" but should be pursued for pure pleasure and so we can all have a shared basis for things to enjoy. Nursery rhymes is one of those!
It's never ever a waste of time to teach children nursery rhymes!!! I truly believe that parents who chat to their kids, read to them and teach them rhymes give them a far better vocabulary - in fact I know someone who only watched the tv and didn't speak to her kids and they needed speech therapy when they started school!!! So I say - Rubbish plus I can't think of doing anything nicer!!!!
xxxx
That's ridiculous! Even if kids aren't picking up any skills from the nursery rhymes they are still getting quality time with their parents. I think having parents that care enough to spend time with their kids has to make a difference.
I think nursery rhymes are great. I think they're good for development and also create memories forever.
My Hop
you have a great point! I simply can't imagine what assumptions this study made, or how large their sample size was - I;ve read contrasting opinions.
We definitely cant take this study as fact until we know more.
Clearly, it matters when a parent spends time with the child and we know that singing songs is a great way to memorize.
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