I didn’t know this site existed until today and I’m really excited to start working with my four year old to improve his reading and recognition skills. Thank you!

Hi medam! Could you please help me out how to get a PDF file in written of ” History of nursery rhymes” And how children are taught nursery rhymes?

I didn’t know that! We haven’t worked much on rhyming yet, but now I will!

Thank you for the help. I have one child who simply does not understand rhyming. We have talked about it repeatedly and it still isn’t understood.

We play a game similar to Get Out of the Wagon as we drive. I say three words & my kids identify which one doesn’t fit. Then we say, “Throw it out the window!” Thanks for some more fun rhyming activities.

One of my children had a very hard time even hearing rhymes- I wish I had found this curriculum sooner.

Thank you so much for this post. I am working with an adult student who has a significant reading disability. Your suggestions, especially on helping her to develop rhyming skills in stages, will be very useful.

I didn’t realize there were 3 steps or phases of learning to rhyme. I never did anything “formally” with my son to “teach” rhyming, I didn’t know it was a thing to do. And to be honest, if I tried to teach rhyming or poems or songs at a young age he wouldn’t have been ready to learn it. That being said, I’m a very hands on mom, everything he has learned I have taught him. But it wasn’t formal, lots of reading, playing and singing. My son never attended a preschool or daycare when he was younger, we went to cooperative playschool 2 days a week for 2 hours and lots of storytimes at the library. We just read lots and lots of children’s books that incorporate rhyming in the story; Dr. Suess, ‘Twas The night before Christmas, Mother goose type fairy tales for example and various children’s songs. In his preschool years I didn’t force education on him I just enjoyed being with him and playing, singing and reading to him. We’d count the stairs as we walked up or down in English and Spanish, sang the alphabet while we brushed teeth or washed hands, practice counting up to 10, then 20 and so on until 100 while driving in the car and then progressing to skip counting by tens and fives. Maybe I take it for granted that he did pick up on rhyming words in books but also in our day to day conversations and interactions. He would say “hey that rhymes” and I would agree and then I’d come up with a few other words that rhymed and we would go back and forth like that until we exhausted the alphabet. We did this a lot and still do, It was fun and spontaneous. We played our own rhyming games without me forcing something on him which would have backfired for sure. Obviously, I would point out things in books and while we’re out in the community or on a nature walk so maybe that was my crude way of teaching, but I feel like that is intuitive, kind of like being a nurturing mother to your child, no one has to teach you to be a mother or love your child it just comes naturally. I think when you slow down and take the time to experience everything with your child and see what makes them tick you can find and in turn help them find the connections they need to be their successful self. Young children don’t have the life experiences older people do, they’re seeing and hearing things for the first time and processing everything, I would imagine it can be overwhelming. They all develop new skills at different times and it’s really not fair to compare one child to another or put them in a box they must conform to. I introduced AAR 1 to my 7.5 year old when I thought he was developmentally ready and he has accomplished so much with very little resistance on his part. We’re excited to start AAR level 2 and AAS level 1 this fall.

Thank you SO VERY much for these resources and ideas. I’ve been working on teaching rhyme for ages to a girl I work with who has Down syndrome and who has been struggling with the concept. I needed some new games and I really appreciated these.
Kindest regards and thanks
Leanne Minton

I teach first grade and my students love the song “A Hunting We Will Go”. We wrote down some rhymes and then changed some words to make new verses. Then my students worked with a partner and wrote their own verses. They had a great time performing them for the class!

I’ve described rhyming as words that sound the similar to my daughter, and she understands how to rhyme generally. But the other day, I was reading a book with a character named Tracker and then a book with tractor, and she said, “Oh, they rhyme.” What is a better way to describe words that rhyme? I did explain that rhyming is words that sound the same at the end of the word, not the beginning. Is it that simple?

These look like fun activities to teach rhyming. I’m going to try the wagon activity here in the next couple days. Thank you for making them available!

My son had been loving this program!!! And loves the rhyming games!

I love to sing rhyming songs with the grandkids, especially if we are outside. If we are on the swing set I sing the nursery rhyme Sing A Song of Sixpence, if we are walking up the steps to the deck we say One, Two, Buckle My Shoe, etc…….if they don’t hear the rhymes they will have a more difficult time recognizing them and producing them. Of course the most fun is reading to and with them!

I didn’t know this. I will be working extra hard on this with my 4 year old.

Love these activities! Just learned about the importance of this from my son’s speech pathologist.

I appreciate all of the information and tips provided on the AALP website. It really helps us new homeschoolers navigate the terrifying waters of reading instruction! Thank you for all you provide!

Rhyming is something I never thought was that important and kind of ignored it for the most part. Wow! I hope I will see a change in my reluctant reader after I begin teaching rhyming!

I am half way through level one reading and I must say I am very impressed with the program. I have been homeschooling for 24 years and have used several programs. However, when my last two children (twins) were struggling no matter what I tried I was at a loss. My friend recommended All About Reading for children who have reading difficulties. It is just the right curriculum. It is easy to follow, lots of practice, no pressure to complete a lesson each day, the child’s mastery of the concept sets the pace for teaching each lesson, and the stories keep the children’s interest. We are also using All About Spelling and we love it also. The spelling program is great for children who have dysgraphia. They can master the words with the tiles before being asked to use pencil and paper.

Thank you for all of these great activities. Definitely keeps learning fun!

This is great. I didn’t realize there were steps. I am going to download these activities and play them in “Gramma School” Thank you!

LOVE this!! My 3-year-old finds rhyming hilarious and is constantly making up his own rhymes! I think I just might have to get him this program!!

My 3 1/2 year-old daughter absolutely adores Ziggy and the wagon game. She asks for them constantly! THANK YOU!!!

My preschooler is actually better at rhyming than my kindergartener. Any tips to help her or will these work well with her too?

I am always looking for additional hands-on ideas for preschool. I appreciate the fun printable activities from the program.

Not only could my son not produce a rhyme, he became angry when I would read a rhyming book to him, like it hurt him. He was the only kid I know who hated Dr. Seuss. We started homeschooling last year, and my sister started a game with him, a ‘nursery rhyme challenge’ or nursery rhyme battles. She lives far away, so they would write letters, or talk on the phone. She commented last week after seeing him that he can remember the nursery rhymes, and a year ago he could not. He just turned 10.

Without rhyming they don’t see the connection of sounds to letter patterns.

I have just started homeschooling my daughter (5) who is quite dyslexic. We are using the All About Learning pre-reading program- we ordered the whole kit with puppet and all. We are a little discouraged and frustrated because she absolutely cannot hear a rhyme. We’ve been doing each rhyming activity listed in the book but it’s usually ends in frustration. Should we continue to try or skip these parts and try again later or persevere through the torture of not getting it?!

We love the curriculum!

Thanks.

Thanks for explaining the different stages of learning to rhyme. This is so helpful.

Marie, this is such excellent material. I wish I’d had this post years ago when I needed it for some of my children! Having had my first child (a daughter) who could rhyme well at age 2, I think, I struggled with some of the others who didn’t seem to get it. And yet I knew rhyming was an important l skill for reading. I wish I knew about those three stages so I could have helped scaffold their learning instead of just feeling frustrated when they couldn’t produce rhymes.
You explain things so well. Thanks for sharing this. I’ll be sharing this information as the opportunity arises.

We have just started level 1 Reading . My daughter is excited about reading. I love the way the program is setup, there’s no stress as how to implement the program. I would definitely recommend All About Reading.