Sing a book for language sake
Singing is both fun and educational! Singing slows down language and puts it into a rhythm, allowing children to hear the smaller sounds in words. In a song, there is often a different note for each syllable in a word, so singing helps lay the foundation for sounding out words, which children put into practice later as they learn to read.
When a child is engaged with a song, they have so much fun they don’t realize that the whole time they are learning about language the whole time.
Singing is also a way for a caregiver and a child to connect, and a song is something caregivers have with them all the time. No special tools are required, just a willingness to share your voice.
Children don’t care if you sing off key or whether you remember all the words. Yours is the voice they want to hear, and all they care about is your enthusiasm and that you are sharing a special moment with them.
The song doesn’t need to be fancy; “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” and “Itsy Bitsy Spider” can work wonders to soothe a child or get their attention focused on you. When children need to get their wiggles out, “Head, Shoulder, Knees and Toes” and “Hokey Pokey” can do the trick and allow for better focus afterward.
It is also fun to combine singing with reading, and a rhyming book is the place to start. Many rhyming books fall into a natural rhythm and can be read in a sing-song voice to give them an extra bounce.
Author Jane Cabrera has several children’s picture books that can be sung, including The Wheels on the Bus, opens a new window, If You're Happy and You Know It!, opens a new window and The Bear Went Over the Mountain, opens a new window.
If you are looking for some inspiration to sing a book, there are great examples on the internet. "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom” is one of these. Search online to find the tune, learn it, and then use that tune as you sing the book, opens a new window to your child.
“Llama Llama Red Pajama” has been interpreted in song by several artists, which can also be found on the internet. Just be sure to go back to the print book, opens a new window when you read/sing to your child, since they will get much more from the interaction with you using a print book than they will from a video.
The first five years of a child’s life are critical for brain development, and singing is one way to help in that development. Grow a Reader storytimes at Central Rappahannock Regional Library have singing at every class.
You can find a schedule of classes at librarypoint.org/0-5, opens a new window. You can also find these books at the library; all are great for singing a book to your child.
One Love, opens a new window by Cedella Marley (to the tune of “One Love”)
Singing in the Rain, opens a new window by Arthur Freed (to the tune of “Singing in the Rain”)
There Was A Tree, opens a new window by Rachel Isadora (to the tune of "The Green Grass Grew All Around”)
This Jazz Man, opens a new window by Karen Ehrhardt (to the tune of “This Old Man”)
Thread of Love, opens a new window by Kabir Sehgal (to the tune of “Frere Jacques”)
Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Car, opens a new window by Kate Dopirak (to the tune of "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star”)
The Wheels on the Tuk Tuk, opens a new window by Kabir Sehgal (to the tune of “The Wheels on the Bus”)
Darcie Caswell is Director of Youth Services at CRRL. This column originally appeared in The Free Lance-Star newspaper.
