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My daughter, who is almost 2 years 5 months old, knows all of her letters and numbers, and has for several months now. She can also sight-read a number of words for animals. I've never heard her say the alphabet, but she will sing parts of it. She can, however, count to 10, sometimes higher. By the time she gets to the teens, though, they all sound the same.
Curiously, though, she doesn't really know her colors and shapes. She knows circle--problem is, to her, most shapes are circles. We'll say, no, that's not a circle--that's a triangle. And she'll say again "Circle!" And sometimes, all colors are purple. But she does say the words for the other colors and shapes from time to time. Just rarely in association with what they are. We're working on this with her, and I'm confident that she'll get it eventually.
I am curious, though, about how common it is for toddlers to learn letters and numbers first. I tried googling the topic, but wasn't able to find anything useful. Have there been studies done about this? Does this mean that my daughter might be a particular type of learner? What are your experiences?
Posts: 2880 | Registered: Jun 2004
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Can she recognize numbers? If not, then it sounds like she is just good at memorizing, like most little ones. Verbal language development is coming first. Repeating 1 - 10 is great, it will help later when she begins learning math comprehension. But really, at this stage, it is just remembering words.
Posts: 3134 | Registered: Mar 2005
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Yes, she recognizes numbers. That's actually what clued me in to the fact that she knew them. It took me by surprise! We were at the park and she started saying the numbers on the play clock. So I pointed to the numbers (out of order) and she told me what they were. She recognizes letters, too. I had heard her count previously, but I thought she had just memorized the sequence.
From what I've read, it's not all that uncommon for two-year-olds to know their letters and numbers, but it sure did surprise me.
And I'm certain she is just sight-reading the words. It's not like she is sounding them out, and she only knows ones that we've told her before, or that she's seen on tv.
To clarify, we point out numbers and letters in different places, and she tells us what they are. If we're watching TV and a number is on the screen (or sometimes a letter) bigger than usual so that it catches her eye, she'll say what it is. I think her favorite number is 2. Posts: 2880 | Registered: Jun 2004
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It's excellent that she knows so much already! You're doing something very right, because so many kids don't know letters or numbers until they start school.
As for colours, I'm sure you have your own methods, but my mother's was this (she was a primary school teacher, but it also works on very small children):
Take a packet of M&Ms or Smarties.
At first you hold up the sweet and have the child repeat the colour after you, then let them have the sweet. The next day try to get them to tell you what colour it is before they can have it. If it's a wrong answer, do a listen and repeat of the colour again. They catch on quickly! And as long as you carefully limit the number of sweets to about five, it doesn't do any harm. Then play 'What colour is that car/shirt/wall?'.
Posts: 1528 | Registered: Nov 2004
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Bella Bee- and then there is my daughter whose attitude was, so it is worth an M&m to you, is it? I don't think it is worth an M&M to me. Drove me nuts- still does. I have no clue what she is capable of because when I ask her to demonstrate, she clams up. But if we are at the store, she might act like she is sight reading various things or she can do some basic math (2 plus 3 more are 5). She will ask for mixed colors (for snow cones, she wanted purple and they only had red and blue so she said, mix those and it'll be purple). But then like I'll give her basic paint colors and ask her which ones we should mix for different colors and she'll shrug and say I don't know. She's three, so I figure it is the age, but it is frustrating. My sister in law sits down and does lessons with her son and thinks I am such a horrible mom for not. But my daughter completely shuts down under those conditions. Very frustrating- my sister in law will tell me how many words her son knows and I just shrug and say Bin might know some. Anyone's guess.
Posts: 2223 | Registered: Mar 2008
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Scholarette - there are always some kids who are not keen to show what or how much they know. My friend's little girl seemed to be completely unable to read and almost unable to do simple sums until she was eight, when it turned out, just as her mother had always suspected, that she had just been refusing to do these things public (she finally got scared and started to display her abilities when the school started calling her 'special needs'). Now she's ten and top of the class in everything.
It is frustrating! But three is young yet.
Posts: 1528 | Registered: Nov 2004
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My brother refused to test until he was like 28 and decided he really wanted to be a fireman. He then went and aced every test. At one point, he was very excited because his assets were over a million before 30 (but in real estate so probably not that high anymore). So, my mom just laughs at me when I complain. Of course, I don't see why my kid is like my brother and his kid is like me (cooperative and excited to show off just smarts to everyone). Of course, my daughter also has physical skills more like my sister than like me. I have a swimmer's build and was a fish while my sister was a gymnast. Right now my daughter is in swimming and tumbling and it is weird to see her be the best in tumbling, worst in swim.
Posts: 2223 | Registered: Mar 2008
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I think you may be right. 
