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In a screen-and-gadget dominated world, many parents can forget how important it is to introduce your preschooler to poetry and other short form works of literature early in their lives. Young children are naturally drawn to the rhyme and rhythm of poetry! This is why Dr. Seuss, with his nonsensical writings, is so popular with little ones!
Of course, with April being National Poetry Month, there’s no better time for your child to be reading verse, be it in daycare, preschool, or at home. Here’s a few reasons why you should be encouraging your child to read poetry:
Poetry motivates children to read.
In addition to broadening reading choices from the “same old, same old” picture books, poetry presents a short, interesting narrative that can be a stepping stone from beginner books to more substantial reading. Good poems for preschoolers should be simple, fun and engaging. Try reading poetry collections like Where The Sidewalk Ends or Falling Up (both by Shel Silverstein), which offer easily-read narratives that you can take on a few pages at a time.
Poetry is an excellent choice for those with limited vocabulary.
The story goes that after Dr. Seuss wrote The Cat in the Hat using 236 different words, his publisher challenged him to write a book using even fewer words. The result was the children’s poem Green Eggs and Ham, which uses no more than 50 different words. Poetry allows for children to experience reading in bite-sized passages using easily understandable words in what is (often) a repetitive structure. It’s for this reason that poetry is often used in English as a Second Language classes. Remember all of the children’s rhymes you memorized in that Intro to French class you took in high school?
Poetry cultivates empathy and artistic expression.
Here’s a benefit of poetry you probably don’t think of immediately. By allowing personal interpretation of a work of literature, reading poetry can open up all kinds of avenues of artistic expression for your preschooler. Additionally, by opening up conversation about the passage your child just read, poetry encourages empathy by allowing them to experience the world through the eyes of the poet. As English author Jeanette Winterson wrote: “[Poetry] isn’t a hiding place. It is a finding place.”
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