.Pop! Goes the weasel.Half a pound of tuppeney rice,Half a pound of treacle,Mix it up and make it nice,Pop! Goes the weasel (Pars.1-3).After knowing that this rhyme originated as a tavern song it is easily seen as an adult entertainment. People can just picture a bunch of drunkards sitting around drinking and singing this tale and it is easily imagined how the money goes "in and out of the Eagle."Most children's first encounter with poetry is through the rhymes they learn at nursery school or in the playground. These are usually humorous rhymes that are repetitive and easily remembered. Others are specifically designed to help children learn to count, such as " One, two, buckle my shoe" For as long as we have had an alphabet we have needed tricks to help us memorize the odd order in which the letters are arranged. The repetition of the nursery rhymes helps children to remember counting and the letters of the alphabet. The education community is beginning to recognize nursery rhymes as an effective way to build vocabulary and reading skills and other educational purposes because of their attractiveness to children. In an article in the Times Educational Supplement, Hillary Robinson points out an example of this new use for nursery rhymes. In this instance a mother wrote a picture book about a girl spider and this helped her daughter overcome her phobia of spiders. Robinson also points out that some rhymes, such as "Little Miss Muffet" helped contribute to these fears of children, like arachnaphobia (B19).In the past nursery rhymes were often recited by elders in the community to children as a way to transmit history and social values through the oral tradition. It is a proven method that if children are interested in the topic they are hearing about, that it will stick in their minds and will be more understood by them. These historical events are often recited as "silly rhymes," thus making learning fun. The rhyme I recall sin...
