There really isn’t any difficulty to teaching a rhyme or song, simply apply the rules by which you as educator/parent “pick things up” the easiest. Make it fun and enjoyable!
Now I can almost hear the collective sighs and imagine the eye rolls when dispensing this well worn nugget of advice, but it is none the less the truest method to making something stick. You could of course make it traumatizing, that also tends to make things linger in the memory, but it’s strangely frowned upon as a learning tool. Please don’t just think ‘What would children find interesting’ some of my most inspired ideas and songs/rhymes my children enjoyed the most, started with “What would make me find this interesting For instance, there is one song, “Happy To Go To School”, those are actually all the lyrics; I thought it would be interesting if it was sung in the least fun way. I had my whole class stand in choir formation -taller ones in the middle, tapering shorter on either side- clasping their little hands together in front of their chests and singing in soprano church choir or opera voices. Not only do the children love it, it gives the other teachers a great inspiration.
Make those general songs entertaining (for yourself) by throwing props into the mix. I once had my children cut out oversized eyes and mouths I drew and stuck it to the back of their heads with a bit of tape (which barely clings to hair) so that they each had a very hairy face on the back of their heads. At the end of each line of a song, everybody would jump around, so that it would be their faces and funny faces fit together all through the song. Hilarity ensues.
Now I’ve heard teachers say, “I can’t sing, so I can’t teach my kids to sing.” This of course is not a problem, so you (and all children along with you) miss a note (or even the melody) here or there, as long as it’s delivered with confidence it’ll sound like you meant it to sound that way all along. If you take anything from what I had to offer it’s this, there isn’t any room for shy persons when working with children. Sing loud, sing proud, sing like you mean it, and if you can’t do it, “make the best of things!” ‘Cause out there it might not be, but when you’re a kindergarten teacher, “Life is a cabaret. Come join the cabaret!” – You will know the ways to make children learn rhymes and songs with pleasure.

 

Chung-Ho
J2b F.T
Will Schoeman
University of Stellenbosch