A study examined how many of 11 key words in 4 famous Mother Goose nursery rhymes were understood by parents of first graders. The first questionnaire (designed to determine if context clues were helpful in deciphering what words meant) was returned by 37 parents in an urban school district and by 49 parents in a suburban school district. The second questionnaire (asking parents to write out the definitions if they were known) was sent to parents in two entirely different school districts. Results indicated that a large number of the parents who read these rhymes to their children had no or inadequate knowledge of key word meanings. (Three tables of data are included; 20 references and both questionnaires are attached.) (RS)