Nursery rhymes are going the way of Humpty Dumpty, according to a recent survey of British parents. More than a fourth of those polled said they couldn't remember a single nursery rhyme in its entirety. Over a third said they hardly ever sing to their children. Of those who do sing to their kids, one-third said they prefer pop songs to Mother Goose.
Some observers, like developmental psychologist Janine Spencer, find the trend regrettable. "Not only are nursery rhymes an important historical part of our culture," she said in a statement to the press, "but by singing them to young children you can help speed up the development of their communication, memory, language and reading skills."
It's probably welcome news to others -- Detroit Free Press columnist Susan Ager, for one -- who complain that the traditional rhymes are old-fashioned and feature too many obsolete references to be meaningful to today's children. "A kid has to wonder about these rhymes," Ager writes. "Why, for example, was Jack wearing a crown when he and Jill went to fetch a pail of water? And why did they need a pail of water? Didn’t they have a hose to wash their car, or a drive-through car wash in the neighborhood?"
Either way, I'm inclined to think it's a tempest in a teapot. The dozens of rhymes attributed to "Mother Goose" have survived intact for three centuries and aren't likely to fade from memory completely. Can you name a pop song that won't be outdated in 300 years? Discuss...
Read More About It:
• Why Nursery Rhymes Are in Danger of Dying Out - Daily Mail
• Humpty Dumpty Falls from Favor - The Times
• We Need Rhymes for Today's Times - Detroit Free Press
• Origin of 'Mother Goose' - Rutgers University
• The Nursery Rhymes of Mother Goose - Rutgers University
(Illustration by John Tenniel, 1871; Source: Wikimedia Commons)
Some observers, like developmental psychologist Janine Spencer, find the trend regrettable. "Not only are nursery rhymes an important historical part of our culture," she said in a statement to the press, "but by singing them to young children you can help speed up the development of their communication, memory, language and reading skills."
It's probably welcome news to others -- Detroit Free Press columnist Susan Ager, for one -- who complain that the traditional rhymes are old-fashioned and feature too many obsolete references to be meaningful to today's children. "A kid has to wonder about these rhymes," Ager writes. "Why, for example, was Jack wearing a crown when he and Jill went to fetch a pail of water? And why did they need a pail of water? Didn’t they have a hose to wash their car, or a drive-through car wash in the neighborhood?"
Either way, I'm inclined to think it's a tempest in a teapot. The dozens of rhymes attributed to "Mother Goose" have survived intact for three centuries and aren't likely to fade from memory completely. Can you name a pop song that won't be outdated in 300 years? Discuss...
Read More About It:
• Why Nursery Rhymes Are in Danger of Dying Out - Daily Mail
• Humpty Dumpty Falls from Favor - The Times
• We Need Rhymes for Today's Times - Detroit Free Press
• Origin of 'Mother Goose' - Rutgers University
• The Nursery Rhymes of Mother Goose - Rutgers University
(Illustration by John Tenniel, 1871; Source: Wikimedia Commons)
Comments
This is a heartbreaking piece, Guide. But your point about the longevity of the rhymes and the ephemeral quality of popular songs is well taken. Children (like some adults) don’t -need- reason to their rhymes; what is wanted is keen and colorful stimulation for the imagination.
I would never read Mother Goose rhymes to our sons when they were little, with all that child abuse and violence. I used to read from my college poetry textbook and from Pushkin and Gogol.
Child abuse and violence? My, oh, my… I read all of those to my children, who are 18 and 21, they loved those stories & rhymes…I loved them too! I had the enormous (to me, when I was small) Richard Scarry’s Book of Nursery Rhymes and Stories. How can ‘Jack Be Nimble’ be related to child abuse and violence? To each his own I suppose. Have they ever done such a survey in the US, I wonder?
I did read nursery rhymes to my children, but I also quoted Bible verses. I think my favorite time doing this with my babies was during diaper-changing time. I would enunciate each word as if I expected them to understand. By the time they were speaking their first words, God’s words began spilling out of their mouths as well. Today as young adults, I see them reciting these same Bible verses to their own babies!
I was read nursery rhyme as a child and did it with my children. I think that my kids have done it with theres. There is something about them that cause learning. Singing pop song will not do that, Nursery Rhyme are so simple and have no meaning to try confuse the child.
It is another way that so many of our young adults have not learned and let these thing go. We will suffer later in the long run. Of course I will not since I will not be here, but my great grand children will because some thing was missing, Nursery Rhymes
We do need to keep them ALIVE, it’s our past & that’s inportaint. Thy have meaning….!
How sad…and how inconvenient, that someone must take the time out of their tightly-packed schedule to explain outdoor plumbing to a toddler…if it isn’t “now” it isn’t relevent??? if we don’t know where we came from, how do we decide where we’re going to, or truly appreciate the journey???