Dear Gaila, I heard you set store by your silly songs - what exactly do you mean by that, and what does it accomplish?
Mother of 3 Young Children
Dear Mother of 3,
As a young mother (and now older grandmother!) I used to sing my children 'silly songs'. This tradition was learned from my mother who said she learned it from her mother. Although her mother must have sung to her in Yiddish and I sing to my children in English, the language does not make any difference. The point is that it has lots of rhymes. and rhymes helps children pick up sound similarities and differences, a key point in phnemic awareness. phonemic awareness is the earliest step in reading.
Here is an example of a silly song. (Tune: This Old Man)
Oh Segulah, I love you!
You have gorgeous eyes of blue
And what I say is always true
Oh Segulah we love you!
and another....
Oh me oh my!
What a cutie pie!
That is my Elchai and Shai!
Both of you are a super duper guy
Elchai, Elchai, and Shai, Shai, Shai!
Have fun making up your own silly songs!
Gaila
Gaila has over 40 year of experience teaching and runs A.H.A.V.A., a non-profit to promote English literacy. Would you like to ask Gaila a question? Email us at ahava.org@gmail.com or send us a message. Look out for more Dear Gaila columns