Early Literacy Challenge 12: Singing Special Songs

My husband and I have been singing songs to our kids since they were babies. We have a special tune that we sing. A lot of preschools use it to sing hello or goodbye to the kids. I learned it when I was working as a preschool teacher for toddlers. These are the lyrics of the song:

Hello (child's name),
Hello (child's name),
Hello (child's name),
We're so glad you're here.

I sing this to every child in toddler story time before we start with Open, Shut Them. The toddlers love it because they get to decide if I sing it to them and it makes them feel special and welcome. It also helps me learn the kids' names. I still remember kids who I see randomly at the grocery store because I sang that song to them so often.

My kids love this song too. We change the lyrics at home.

Sweet boy A,
Sweet boy A,
Sweet boy A,
We love you very much.

Sweet girl M,
Sweet girl M,
Sweet girl M,
We love you very much.

M, currently 18 months, hums the tune to the song at night when she is soothing herself to sleep. A sings the song to M when she is crying. We sing the song in the car to our kids when they are fussy. We make up new lyrics about things our kids like, like combines, tractors, lady bugs, dogs, cats, etc.

Combines harvest corn,
Combines harvest corn,
Combines harvest corn,
And put it in a grain cart.

It is great. You could do this with any sort of song that you want. I also sing about the kids' names to the tune of B-I-N-G-O.

There is a boy who I adore and A is his name-o A----
A----, A---- and A--- is his name-o.

I sing the same song for M with her name and just switch out boy for girl in the song. I sang these special songs to them when I was driving in the car alone when I was pregnant. I think they were born knowing the tunes to the songs and how special they make our lives.