Three Kind Mice. Baa Baa Bright Sheep. Ring Around Sweet Roses.
We’re all familiar with the classic nursery rhymes that have been around for years and offer nostalgic appeal, but Pam Gittleman thought it was time to put a new spin on them. “They’ve been a standard part of early childhood for their memorability and musicality, their whimsical characters and rhyming benefits, but I noticed fewer kids were familiar with them in recent years and discovered that millennial parents and caregivers were avoiding them due to their outdated, dark, inappropriate and, in some cases, downright cringeworthy content,” says Gittleman, a Chappaqua resident and preschool music teacher who developed Nursery Rhymes for Kinder Times,™ a collection of updated children’s rhymes with music that nurture kindness, empathy, and gratitude.
Gittleman kept the characters and rhyme schemes but re-crafted new storylines. “Many teachers and parents had no desire to sing about Three Blind Mice whose tails get cut off by a carving knife or Baa Baa Black Sheep who has a master and a dame,” she says. “I saw an opportunity to leverage the inherent appeal of those rhymes to convey socially responsible messaging that would appeal and be appropriate to today’s young parents/teachers/caregivers and the children they love.” In Three Kind Mice, the mice help each other get the cheese, and when Humpty Dumpty falls down, his friends help him up and put on a Band-Aid.
Raffi, the famous children’s composer/performer, and his collaborator, Lindsay Munroe, released an album featuring 15 of Gittleman’s rhymes. “It was a dream come true,” she says. “I knew my desire to have the updated rhymes nurture kindness, empathy and gratitude dovetailed with Raffi’s Foundation for Child Honouring that includes principles focused on emotional intelligence, conscious parenting, and respectful love.
“Having him record my rhymes seemed like the perfect way to create synergy with what he stands for and to provide a vehicle for him and Lindsay to continue on their music-making trajectory in support of promoting kindness for all.” Raffi mainly uses a ukulele but also incorporates the harp, clarinets, violins, bassoon, and a trumpet. “Those choices create a light, airy feel to the music that supports the whimsy and enchantment of the stories and characters.”
Growing up in a musical family playing piano, guitar and flute, coupled with a 20-year career as a preschool music teacher honed Gittleman’s creative and educational skills. But it was when she participated in Harvard’s Advanced Leadership Initiative in 2020-2021, which allowed her to take courses at Harvard’s Graduate School of Education, that she deepened her knowledge of early childhood education, especially regarding social and emotional learning (SEL).
“Achievement, competition, and performance tend to be valued and rewarded more than kindness, caring and compassion,” says Gittleman, noting a ‘caring deficit’ in society. “The foundation for building soft skills, such as teamwork, collaboration, and empathy, starts with the right messaging and teaching of those skills in childhood. I wanted to create something that could be paired with research-based SEL tools but could be cheaply and easily integrated into daily routines in school and in homes that would help build and reinforce emotional intelligence.”
Believing SEL tends to get shortchanged in school, Gittleman’s mission is to help make the early childhood education landscape more equitable. “There’s a wealth of research on how much growth and development occurs in the first five years of life. What and how we teach our children during that time impacts their cognitive, social, emotional, and academic well-being for years to come,” she explains.
“Quality early childhood education is elusive for many, particularly for underserved families who don’t have the knowledge and/or socioeconomic capital to access programs built on evidence-based early childhood practices.” Gittleman doesn’t expect the rhymes to be life changing, but she hopes her memorable, easy content will create an opportunity for teaching SEL skills, nurturing positive relationships, and promoting kindness, empathy, and gratitude.
In the future, Gittleman hopes to publish a book of the rhymes and have her work available to schools and families. “It’s always been my intention for Nursery Rhymes for Kinder Times™ to provide a multi-modal experience for children and the adults who love them using illustrations, story and music,” she says. “I hope to continue to provide easy and fun ways for adults and the preschoolers they love to build relationships on a foundation of kindness.”
Three Kind Mice
Trad., Adapted by Pam Gittleman & Raffi
© 2022 Homeland Publishing
Three kind mice (three kind mice)
See how they run (see how they run)
They help each other to get some cheese
Asking nicely by saying “please”
Sharing with friends and families
Three kind mice
Three kind mice (three kind mice)
See how they play (see how they play)
They share their books and share their toys
They’re kind to animals, girls, and boys
When they’re happy they make some noise
Three kind mice
Jack And Jill
Trad., adapted by Pam Gittleman & Raffi
© 2022 Homeland Publishing
Jack and Jill went up the hill
To fetch a pail of water
Jack fell down and began to frown
‘Til Jill helped him feel better
Giggling they did laugh and play
And filled the pail with water
They took turns to carry it back
Helping one another
Rock-A-Bye Baby
Trad., adapted by Pam Gittleman & Raffi
© 2022 Homeland Publishing
Rock-a-bye baby on the tree top
When the wind blows the cradle will rock
When the branch bends, brother peeks in
And says Hi to baby with love and a grin
Rock-a-bye baby on the tree top
When the wind blows the cradle will rock
When the branch swings, sister will tell
A sweet bedtime story, to help you sleep well
To learn more, visit forkindertimes.com. It includes videos and educational resources for many of the rhymes, as well as information about the Raffi album. The album is available on all major music platforms and on Raffi’s website: raffinews.com/store/childrens-music/nursery-rhymes-for-kinder-times/
