Why Many Toddlers Are Into Repetition?

Cheri Bojcic's told Today's Parents that she has a daughter named Elana. The four-year-old child has a favorite book and loves the engaging story, adding that she's memorized most of the words due to continuous reading. Bojcic had to read it all over time as her daughter is into the book and loves reading it all over again.

Parents want their children to love books so they to learn and lot and as well as introduce the child to the world of stories, words, and rhythms. However, many parents think that reading or doing the same thing again helps kids; Catherine Lee, a University of Ottawa psychology professor and president-elect of the Canadian Psychological Association explains that repetition is human nature and it's something that almost everyone enjoys specifically kids.

Kids are comforted by being able to predict the world. This does not only apply to kids but also tweens and teens. You may have seen your child stomp to her room after a hard day at school so he or she can listen to a favorite piece of music over and over or watch their favorite Disney movie.

Kids became "masters of that activity"

Karin Borlan, administrative coordinator of youth services at the Winnipeg Public Library added that many kids love repetition because regardless of the activity, it becomes a part of their memory and they gradually learn to anticipate the details of the story, film, and fingerplay that appears to be fun for them. Thus, when they know what's coming, they became the masters of that activity.

For instance, when a parent surprises her child using a peekaboo, kids would not laugh due to surprise but due to the excitement that builds as the child thinks about what comes next; Judith Wright, a literacy specialist with the Ontario Early Years Centres in London, Ont., and co-director of the London Suzuki Music Centre explains that a baby needs 1,000 repetition to learn a single word and by the time he's a toddler, he might need 50 repetitions to learn and when he's kindergarten, he may only need few repetitions to finally master it as the brain connections have been laid out.

Parents, on the other hand, actually help kids during this process by singing the same song or reading the same story. Parents do such intuitively. For instance, a mom will continuously say Mommy and the baby will hear it 1,000 times before the baby finally says it. Thus, parents should not get tired of it; Baby Centre suggests encouraging toddlers' language skills by making enough time every day to read with her.

Repetition can be critically important for learning

Borland added that repetition provides young ones another opportunity for learning the meaning as well as the nuances of the language. Repetition also helps them to read easily as kids who have experienced repeated readings began school with a massive advantage. Echolalia or repeating what is commonly heard is a normal phase of language development.

Kids who are learning to speak constantly use this. Children also love familiar words and stuff, thus, they find emotional comfort in repetition. Lev Vygotsky, a child psychologist, says that it also assists in concept attainment and helps them to enhance their own understanding of the said concept, per The Gardner School.