Are nursery rhymes dead?

[1GoldenSun]

My husband was watching Mad Money and Cramer mentioned "the markets." That triggered me to recite the nursery rhyme: To market, to market, to buy a fat pig. Home again, home again, jiggety jig.

My son looked at me like I'd lost my mind. I realized that while I did recite nursery rhymes to my kids occasionally when they were very small, I didn't do so often enough or long enough for them to remember many, if any at all.

I probably know dozens of nursery rhymes and I don't know how/when I learned them except that I must have been very young. Are children just not learning nursery rhymes anymore?

 

[littlejimmy]

no

 

[superme80]

Mine don't have them memorized, but I did read the Disney version to them.

 

[cmrdgrs]

My husband was watching Mad Money and Cramer mentioned "the markets." That triggered me to recite the nursery rhyme: To market, to market, to buy a fat pig. Home again, home again, jiggety jig.

My son looked at me like I'd lost my mind. I realized that while I did recite nursery rhymes to my kids occasionally when they were very small, I didn't do so often enough or long enough for them to remember many, if any at all.

I probably know dozens of nursery rhymes and I don't know how/when I learned them except that I must have been very young. Are children just not learning nursery rhymes anymore?

I love this! I think you're right, nursery rhymes have been replaced with non-stop entertainment on handheld devices. I think most of us learned nursery rhymes by having them read to us as a child or reading them when we were a child.

 

[DisneyOma]

I agree, cmrdgrs. Parents reading to kids - does that even happen anymore? Or do they just push a video of someone else reading at them at bedtime? There used to be commercials talking about how important it was to read to your children, but people don't even watch regular tv anymore either?

Of course some of the nursery rhymes are dreadful, like Jack and Jill.

 

[GreatLakes]

I agree, cmrdgrs. Parents reading to kids - does that even happen anymore? Or do they just push a video of someone else reading at them at bedtime? There used to be commercials talking about how important it was to read to your children, but people don't even watch regular tv anymore either?

Of course some of the nursery rhymes are dreadful, like Jack and Jill.

I think reading to your child is very important and we started reading to ours when he was about 1 week old. We still read books to him before bed every night.

The current Covid situation means he watches more TV than we'd like but we generally don't use the TV as a babysitter.

He does hear nursery rhymes in the car but we generally don't read them to him.

 

[superme80]

I agree, cmrdgrs. Parents reading to kids - does that even happen anymore? Or do they just push a video of someone else reading at them at bedtime? There used to be commercials talking about how important it was to read to your children, but people don't even watch regular tv anymore either?

Of course some of the nursery rhymes are dreadful, like Jack and Jill.

It happens a lot. I still read to my kids. My 11 year old has moved on to audio books at night, but my younger 2 still ask from stories from time to time. I also read a lot of novels to them during school time.

 

[disykat]

Probably depends on who your parents, grandparents, and teachers are. I have several books of nursery rhymes and used them at home and also at school with K and 1st students. Those books are now in my "future grandchildren" stash. The same could be said about singing. I miss "Barney" for that reason. They did a lot of the old nursery rhymes, etc.

 

[disneychrista]

Of course some of the nursery rhymes are dreadful, like Jack and Jill.

Which is likely just as much a reason for parent to NOT recite them to children anymore.

 

[sailorstitch]

Does Jack and Jill have some meaning that I'm unaware of? I thought it was about a boy that bumped his head....

 

[Mrs. Ciz]

I think reading to your child is very important and we started reading to ours when he was about 1 week old. We still read books to him before bed every night.

The current Covid situation means he watches more TV than we'd like but we generally don't use the TV as a babysitter.

He does hear nursery rhymes in the car but we generally don't read them to him.

Probably depends on who your parents, grandparents, and teachers are. I have several books of nursery rhymes and used them at home and also at school with K and 1st students. Those books are now in my "future grandchildren" stash. The same could be said about singing. I miss "Barney" for that reason. They did a lot of the old nursery rhymes, etc.

My kids are 21 and 23 now. We had a huge book of nursery rhymes that we read to them along with a ton of other books when they were small. But I also bought nursery rhyme tapes (the traditional nursery rhymes set to music). We listened to these tapes whenever we were in the car. We’d also sing them with motions (sort of like playing patty cake) when we were playing with our babies. It was fun, and my kids still remember those silly little songs!

 

[Queen Medors]

HIckory, Dickory ,Dock
Mickey Mouse went up the clock
The clock struck one and Co- Vid was done
Hickory Dickory Dock

 

[cobright]

We've improved upon them ... haven't you ever heard Baby Shark?

 

[low-key]

We should of kept things the way they were when I was a kid, I got sore butt from teachers swats, but stayed out of prison (not jail) and payed my own way thru this life

 

[sonnyjane]

Of course some of the nursery rhymes are dreadful, like Jack and Jill.

Does Jack and Jill have some meaning that I'm unaware of? I thought it was about a boy that bumped his head....

Hmm, I agree? I looked into the origin and aside from her getting a "whipping" it wasn't anything dreadful... and that's a verse that most don't even know.

 

[Kittyblue]

We should of kept things the way they were when I was a kid, I got sore butt from teachers swats, but stayed out of prison (not jail) and payed my own way thru this life

Needed some more swats, eh?

 

[starry_solo]

I agree, cmrdgrs. Parents reading to kids - does that even happen anymore? Or do they just push a video of someone else reading at them at bedtime? There used to be commercials talking about how important it was to read to your children, but people don't even watch regular tv anymore either?

Of course some of the nursery rhymes are dreadful, like Jack and Jill.

They still have those commercials.

Talk, read, sing
It changes everything...

Video (First 5 California):

 

[ronandannette]

For a little gallows humor, I guess today's most popular nursery rhyme should be "Ring Around the Rosie".

 

[Diznygrl]

It's crazy for me to think that kids don't really learn nursery rhymes anymore. When I was little, nursery rhymes were everywhere. I had a Childcraft book of poems and rhymes, Mixed Up Mother Goose computer game, a small local theme park called Fairytale Town that has various play structures and other sculptures themed to nursery rhymes (this park still exists), and when I was in kindergarten we were given a coloring sheet with a new nursery rhyme each week that we had to memorize and recite in front of the class at the end of the week.

 

[Imzadi]

Of course some of the nursery rhymes are dreadful, like Jack and Jill.

I think several of them have some painful or negative component. Many aren't happy, fun rhymes. Humpty Dumpty is another one. Also Rock-A-Bye Baby, Sing A Song Of Sixpence, London Bridge is Falling Down, Ring Around the Rosie, Three Blind Mice, There was an old woman who lived in a shoe.