Nursery rhymes have great value for beginning readers. They teach essential vocabulary (See Dolch Sight Word Lists), sentence structure, words with patterns of phonograms which aid recognition of words, other vocabulary, help children to engage their imagination and extend their thinking, and develop their creative abilities. When my son was a preschooler he loved the language and rhythm of the nursey rhymes and he learned a lot of new words by exploring examples of words in the word family groups. His greatest love was using the rhymes to compose his own pattern stories and rhymes. I believe if parents, through demonstration, are exposed to the value of nursery rhymes, they will rethink their position. My son is six years and I am still using nursery rhymes with him to develop phonemic awareness and phonic skills.