Can anyone tell me why we teach our kids what animals say? Or simple easy-to-pronounce word versions of the noises animals make? Barn-yard onomatopoeias?
I don't have anything against farm animal noises, seriously, I'm just curious. I was reading a book to Baby Girl the other night about, yes, farm animal noises and I just started to wonder at what developmental stepping stone this training was supposed to provide...
I mean, think about how many children's books, games and toys revolve around this concept. The shear volume seems to suggest it must be significant in some way, doesn't it? "The cow says moo, the pig says oink, the cat says meow..." Surely this serves some purpose in developing their cognitive function, or linguistic acquisition, or fine motor skills or one of those other neuro-psycho-whatsit brain functions we're supposed to be worried about as mothers, right? I understand why we teach kids colors, numbers, letters, shapes, emotions, days of the week, etc. but, really - will they be smarter, or happier, or more accomplished because they know that a duck says "quack"?
Or is it just a hold-over from our pre-industrial, agrarian society ancestors? Or is it just because farm animals make for cute children's book illustrations? Or is it just for fun? And fun is okay. Fun is a perfectly good answer.
When I did a student exchange in France, I remember we had an entire dinner-table discussion with my host family about the differences in the words we use for the noises animals make. The French don't say "moo" or "oink." I can't remember now what they do say, but it was pretty different. We were each amused and just a tad disdainful of the other language's attempt to capture the cries of common animals. I remember my host father found "Cock-a-doodle-doo" to be particularly hilarious. It made for great cross-cultural learning and gave us all a good laugh, but I really have to wonder why we need to know this stuff.
I'm genuinely curious. Does anyone know?
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2 comments:
No idea, but it IS an interesting thought.
i think it is just for fun and because kids naturally like animals and get a kick out of saying the sounds. i personally hope someone else teaches my kids, because i feel really stupid saying "oink oink" and "cock-a-doodle-doo" :)
it also reminds me of what a friend of mine calls "stupid baby tricks." all those things like waving bye-bye and blowing kisses. it's not really a necessary part of development, but people feel the need to teach them and show them off incessantly, myself included. :)
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