Don't Forget to Sing

Singing is good to build children's literacy skills, but did you ever think about how important it is to a child's social-emotional development? We've probably all used music to comfort an infant, but older children can find comfort in songs and can use them to relieve their own stress. They also become confident when they know songs and can join in and sing with others. I believe singing can be build relationships, both between adults and other children. So take time to teach the children in your life some of the traditional songs you enjoyed.

If you are at a loss for songs to sing, there are many good books at the library. The children in my class enjoyed the book and song, "There Once was a Man Named Micheal Finnegan" by Mary Ann Hoberman this year. They also enjoyed Miss Mary Mack by the same author. There are many other books based on a songs such as "On Top of Spaghetti" by Paul Brett Johnson, "The Lady with the Alligator Purse" by Nadine Bernard Westcot, "Five Little Ducks" by Raffi, and "The Wheels on the Bus" by Annie Kubler.


Here are a few song titles you might have forgotten about:

Cat Goes Fiddle-i-fee
The Ants Go Marching
Bingo
Baby Bumble Bee
This Old Man
The Little Skunk's Hole
S-M-I-L-E
Ten in Bed
Bear Went Over the Mountain
It's Raining, It's Pouring
The More We Get Together
She'll Be Coming Round the Mountain
Skidamarink
I'm a Little Teapot

If you need lyrics, try:

www.kiddles.com/lyrics/index/html or http://bussongs.com/