Friday, May 01, 2009
Happy May Day...
Good morning, I wish you a Happy May Day. But, did you know that today is also Mother Goose Day? Mother Goose Day was founded in 1987, as a day to appreciate nursery rhymes and stories. They are a favorite of children and their parents.
The term "Mother Goose" dates back to the 1650's. It refered to stories like Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood and Sleeping Beauty. It does not appear to represent a particular person, as many of "Mother Goose" stories were written both before and after this term was first used. And, the stories were written by numerous authors.
Children are taught basic skills through rhythm and rhyme. Children love nursery rhymes: they are delighted by mastering the familiar rhymes, many of which have been set to simple melodies.
Nursery rhymes can be used to teach important information in an entertaining way:
By the way... today is also Space Day. The first day of May and we already have 3 things to celebrate... What a great month May is turning out to be!
Good morning, I wish you a Happy May Day. But, did you know that today is also Mother Goose Day? Mother Goose Day was founded in 1987, as a day to appreciate nursery rhymes and stories. They are a favorite of children and their parents.
The term "Mother Goose" dates back to the 1650's. It refered to stories like Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood and Sleeping Beauty. It does not appear to represent a particular person, as many of "Mother Goose" stories were written both before and after this term was first used. And, the stories were written by numerous authors.
Children are taught basic skills through rhythm and rhyme. Children love nursery rhymes: they are delighted by mastering the familiar rhymes, many of which have been set to simple melodies.
Nursery rhymes can be used to teach important information in an entertaining way:
- counting
- abc's
- body parts
- vocabulary - word lists
Each nursery rhyme is a little story unto itself. In many ways they function as simple parables. Traditionally, nursery rhymes have been a vehicle for children to safely explore age appropriate questions about identity and their emotions. Many of these rhymes help children to confront their fears about losing things, getting in trouble or getting hurt.
There are many ways to use Mother Goose rhymes in the curriculum. Art work projects include making humpty dumpty mobiles, cotton ball lambs, decorated mittens and bright aluminum stars.
- To learn everything you ever wanted to know about Mother Goose, go to the Mother Goose Society webpage.
- Some great ideas to celebrate Mother Goose Day at eHow.
- I'm not sure why this is on a police department website, but this is a great collection of Mother Goose rhymes.
- Even more at this website and here and here.
- Some good ideas for Mother Goose Day at Alphabet Soup.
- These and many, many more links at the Nursery Rhyme page.
By the way... today is also Space Day. The first day of May and we already have 3 things to celebrate... What a great month May is turning out to be!
// posted by Tammy Wachter @ 6:12 AM 
