r T o f


eachers have intuitively known the secret for years: nursery


and counting rhymes have an important place in the learning process. But what can we learn from this from a therapeutic perspective?


Nursery rhymes constitute an amazing source for language learning and speech therapy, because they represent some of the fundamental aspects of each language, and their universal presence –all languages have nursery rhymes and many languages have the same –indicates the huge universal impact on language learning for the young child.


The fundamental aspects of nursery rhymes and counting rhymes are the rhythm and the typical phrase melody of a specific language, the repetition of rhymes, of sounds and consonants, the alternation of stressed and unstressed syllables. The “non serious” context of nursery rhymes and counting rhymes with nonsense words included is another important aspect of their specific role in learning and in therapy. They are learned for fun.


r N Jack and Jill went up a hill to fetch a pail of water


Jack fell down and broke his crown and Jill came tumbling after


Jack and Jill is sung in a typical rhythm, with a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed one. This simple beat (/ -/-/-/) helps the child to easily follow the phrase and to learn in repetition new sounds in opposition with the first consonant repeated.


Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall Humpty Dumpty had a great fall All the King’s horses, and all the King’s men Couldn’t put Humpty together again.


Humpty Dumpty, also recited in a typical rhythm, has the repetition of /a/ in /sat, had, and again/ in opposition to /a/ in /wall, fall, all/ is learned in the same way: repetition-opposition and rhyme with the same simple beat of stressed and unstressed syllable. Accent and intonation are the basis for emerging communication.


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