University of South Australia

Parents who encourage ‘live’ language learning by reading with their babies and singing and chanting rhymes can give their children a head start of up to five years of language-rich interaction before starting school, according to UniSA’s Associate Professor in Early Childhood Education, Susan Hill.

The importance of literacy development in the years before school has been well documented, with previous Australian research strongly supporting the connections between children’s oral language development and later academic success in literacy.

Prof Hill says library-based literacy programs targeting very young children 0-2 years are relatively new in Australia, with Western Australia and South Australia the first states to initiate early literacy programs.

Research from the United States into the brain function and oral language development of babies and toddlers has led to the creation of library programs that are very fast paced, active programs where babies grasp musical instruments, interact with and are stimulated by other babies, and listen to music, songs and rhymes.

The impact of a range of early literacy programs for 0-2 year old children initiated by public libraries was explored by Prof Hill in three diverse geographic and socioeconomic South Australian communities.

“The idea of engaging young children with ‘live language’, which is different from television programs or CD-ROMS, resulted in library programs shifting from a predominantly book reading focus to a rhyme-action program called Baby Bounce,” Prof Hill said.

Prof Hill was a key researcher in the Baby Bounce program, in which babies and parents participate in up to 25-30 rhymes organised into bounce songs, action songs, finger plays, body part songs, numeracy songs and a lullaby.

“Because the rhymes are accompanied by clapping and percussion instruments, the words are broken into syllables and sounds in a form of language play, and this helps children attend to spoken language,” Prof Hill said.

The physically different characteristics of the 0-2 year olds highlighted the need for most babies to sit on parents’ laps. With some babies becoming mobile, there was a clear need to keep the babies engaged so that they didn’t move off.

“In even the simplest action songs, the whole brain and body are engaged, which is important for the baby’s development,” Prof Hill said.

Public Library Services, in consultation with Prof Hill, developed an innovative early literacy training and development program for library staff, funded by the Local Government Research and Development Fund and Local Government Association.

More than 200 library staff participated in the program and then developed innovative sessions that provided rich experiences in phonemic awareness - awareness of words, syllables, rhymes, alliteration and the individual sounds in spoken language that are linked to oral language development.

“In the Baby Bounce program, library staff use a teddy or doll to demonstrate actions that parents can do with their babies, and put songs on a big chart so that parents can sing the words. Traditional songs like ‘London Bridge is falling down’ are sometimes modified with words like ‘Hi, hello and how are you?’. Body parts are taught in, ’Heads, shoulders, knees and toes’ and numeracy in ’One, two, three, four, five, once I caught a fish alive’.

“These action rhymes encourage greater parent-child participation and interaction, and parents say that music holds their baby’s attention better than storytelling,” Prof Hill said.

“Parents were often amazed that their babies anticipated the songs, rhymes and the actions at such an early age. Many parents said that they now sang and played more with their babies at home and used songs as a distraction and for entertainment. They expressed an overwhelming mutual enjoyment of the Baby Bounce program.”

One parent commented, “I have learned how to make babies smile”.

Another spin-off has been increased borrowing of books for babies and increased library use and membership. For many parents, socialising with other parents and baby-to-baby socialising were the key to the program’s success.

Prof Hill’s research is part of a state-wide early childhood reading program launched in partnership with state and local government, The Advertiser, the South Australian public library network and Child and Youth Health, which is designed to encourage parents and other carers to read aloud to their children.

According to Acting Associate Director, Public Library Services Teresa Brook, the program received an overwhelming response from library staff in regional and metropolitan SA, and will be delivered to library staff in the ACT and NSW.

Prof Hill said the research highlights a need for a national initiative to encourage early literacy initiatives for the 0-2 year old age group in all communities, with additional support for programs in more remote communities where distance is a barrier to participation.

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Editor's Note: Original news release can be found here.