Summer is fast approaching, and a break from school shouldn’t be an excuse to take a break from learning. You can help your children hone their language skills, and maybe even develop new ones, while having fun this summer.
Road Trips
For many people, a large part of summer break ends up being spent in a car, whether it be traveling to a vacation destination or just traveling around town doing errands. The good news is . . . a car ride presents the perfect opportunity to use music as a tool for learning language skills.
Music and Language Learning
Studies have shown that music can facilitate language learning, and a child’s ability to distinguish musical rhythm is related to a child’s capacity for understanding grammar. With this in mind, coupled with the fact that there are several CDs for children with songs about the alphabet, vocabulary and grammar, now is a great time to select CDs (or MP3s) for your summer travels.
Recommended CDs
Here Come the ABCs by They Might Be Giants
As parents, you might be familiar with They Might Be Giants from their playful and easy to sing along to hit Birdhouse in Your Soul. This children’s CD contains songs with They Might Be Giants fun and familiar sound, so it is easy for adults to love too. Some of the songs are:
- Pictures of Pandas Painting
- The Vowel Family
- Alphabet Lost and Found
This CD was made in partnership with Disney Radio. It has 39 tracks and also includes video content.
Snacktime! by Barenaked Ladies
Barenaked Ladies are another band that parents will likely be familiar with for their popular song If I Had a $1,000,000. Barenaked Ladies lively music style carries over to this children’s CD, so it too is a lot of fun for everyone. The CD isn’t solely about language, though the songs include a lot of rhyming which plays an important role in language learning. Here are a few of the songs from the CD:
- Crazy ABCs
- There’s a Word for That
- Pollywog in a Bog
For The Kids by Various Artists
This CD has music ranging from country to pop to alternative and more. With all of the variety, the CD provides long lasting entertainment. Following is a sampling of the artists and songs:
- Goodnight Children Everywhere - Sixpence None The Richer
- The Rainbow Connection - Sarah McLachlan
- It's All Right To Cry - Darius Rucker
Grammar Rock by Schoolhouse Rock
No mention of music and language would be complete without bringing up the famous 1970s Grammar Rock which was re-released in 1997. Some of the memorable songs include:
- Unpack Your Adjectives
- Lolly, Lolly, Lolly, Get Your Adverbs Here
- Verb: That's What's Happening
In addition to listening to the music on CD, you can watch episodes of Grammar Rock on YouTube. The music originally accompanied an animated, mini-show that ran between Saturday morning cartoons. Grammar Rock’s producer, Schoolhouse Rock, also produced Multiplication Rock, America Rock and more.
