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Talking yourlanguageMatthew Fitt discusses the value oflearning about Scots rhyme fromthe earliest ageIS BIRTH TO THREEA GOOD TIME FORCHILDREN TO LEARNABOUT SCOTSRHYME? epre-school stage iscrucial because it setsin stone the child’sattitudes to language.Oen children aredeveloping theirlanguage confidenceand their first steps inlanguage are entirelyin Scots. But in many caseswhen they go to school thatstops and Scots is no longerused. It’s much harder tochange that at primaryschool, particularly forboys. e new Curriculumfor Excellence makes clearstatements aboutcelebrating the Scotslanguage. It’s usually the nurserythat values Scots rhymes butsometimes the parents feel thattheir children shouldn’t learnthese rhymes in school. ey canbe very concerned that the childwill learn Scots ‘slang’ instead ofEnglish! ere’s a prevailinganxiety about language, andthat’s a shame.WHAT ARE THE BEST WAYS FORCHILDREN ANDPARENTS TO ENJOYSCOTS RHYMETOGETHER? e keything is to have funwith the language!ere’s a lot to begained from enjoyingthese wonderful simplerhymes and stories.It’s all literature, itscans and it’slyrical. It can beenjoyed with themost importantpeople in anychild’s life –Mum and Dad.By reading andreciting theserhymes we’realso sharing themwithin a widercommunity; mostpeople in Scotlandknow them. We need to holdon to that shared experienceScotland has had forgenerations. ese rhymes areimportant – they’re part ofScottish folklore. ere’s amassive demand from nurseriesfor books with Scots rhyme anda real sense of how much youngchildren and parents love it.WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OFLEARNING ABOUT SCOTSRHYME? It enhances children’sawareness of language – bothScots and other languages – andcontributes to improving theircommunication skills. ey canuse both Scots and English; itdoesn’t have to be one or theother! It helps them find outabout their country and othercultures. ere are so manypeople out there who see howchildren’s learning experienceshave been improved by usingScots. It’s a national asset andwe should safeguard it. ●Matthew Fitt is the director ofItchy Coo, which has published35 new titles in Scots sincelaunching in 2002. Alongsideoutreach education work in schoolsto promote Scots language, ItchyCoo created the ‘Katie’ books,a series of stories in Scots rhymeMy experience…Ania, mother of Patryk (18 months)“My partner and I are from Poland butour son Patryk was born in Scotland, andwe’d like him to be bilingual. Since hewas born, books and music have becomevery important to us. I love singingrhymes to him; it’s great fun. I can seehe loves listening to me singing andwatching me making faces – I thinkit helps him have a better understandingof words and he is even starting to copythe ‘moves’! I noticed that Patryk prefersPolish rhymes when at home with me,but enjoys rhymes in English at ourweekly meetings at the library. Most ofthe time I sing the rhymes I used to singor loved myself as a child – it brings backgood memories. We also listen to lotsof great nursery songs or lullabies onCDs that I buy in Poland. And with theinternet, I can quickly and easily find newrhymes and songs for us to learn together.For me, rhymes are the most amusingways to make kids read, write and havefun. It’s time well spent!”Bookbug 27