Parents As Teachers education consultant for the State Department of Education, the repetition present in many nursery rhymes allows babies to anticipate the words they will hear. When parents repeat rhymes and songs over and over, they are helping to develop pathways of memory in their children's brains. The rhythm inherent in nursery rhymes and children's songs reinforces infants' inborn sense of beat awareness. The rhyme present in these simple entertainments is an important aspect of language development, and actually helps develop a skill that is a first step in learning to read. According to Owen, babies are born able to learn and process all speech sounds contained in all the world's languages, but in order to incorporate a sound into their own speech, they need to hear it spoken to them over and over.
Rhymes provide practice in hearing the same sound repeated in different words.
The recognition of speech sounds in called phonemic or phonological awareness, and it is vital to learning language. Another important tool in developing learning readiness in very young children is music. Music is an important component of brain development. When elements of music, such as rhythm and melody, are repeated, neural pathways for sensory-motor functioning are reinforced and organized. Music is vital nourishment for the brain, stimulating growth of the brain's frontal lobes, which experience a major growth spurt between the ages of 2 and 6, Owen said.