Learning Question

[TonyaW]

I have a 3 year old who is home schooled, of course not formally. I get books about what he is interested in or show him videos on you tube about things he is interested in such as frogs, owls, trucks or storms. I answer his million questions everyday as best I can.

Anyway, he has an amazing memory and is highly verbal. We get comments all the time about how well he speaks. People always comment that they know another child who is a year or two older who cannot speak as well as my son.There are things I would never imagine him to think about or remember, but he does. He remembers things from a year ago and still brings it up. Today we were at someones house who had a wall missing in one room a few months ago. Today he asked about the wall and why there was now a wall, specifically I think he asked why they put a wall there.

Anyway, lately we have been talking about what he should do if he gets lost. I was making sure he knows mine and dads name. Today I started talking about our phone number though it may not be relevant, but it was just in case. He got really shy or embarrassed when I tried to get him to repeat our number. There are times when I try to teach him something that he will act shy and hide his face and say I don't know how to do that. I don't ever shame him about learning and I don't pressure him. I guess this means he is just not ready to learn what I am trying to teach or is it something else. How should I handle something like this? He will act shy or embarrassed about learning some things, I think because he doesn't understand.

[pigpokey]

If you want to teach him his phone number for safety purposes, then make up a song and sing it to a familiar tune or an easy tune you make up.

Our went:

I know my phone number, it starts with 404
XXXXXXX will bring you to my door
(slower) X X X X X X X
I know my phone number, let's see how you do
(yells) XXXXXXX!

When I wanted to teach them rote memory at that age, I would sing it to them.

Now that they are reading, we just read memorizations together. Or they drill with copywork.

If you wait a couple of years, he will probably learn it by listening to you leave messages.

[jenfl]

Originally Posted by TonyaW

He got really shy or embarrassed when I tried to get him to repeat our number. There are times when I try to teach him something that he will act shy and hide his face and say I don't know how to do that. I don't ever shame him about learning and I don't pressure him. I guess this means he is just not ready to learn what I am trying to teach or is it something else. How should I handle something like this? He will act shy or embarrassed about learning some things, I think because he doesn't understand.

My DD (2.5) is just like that! She's highly verbal, amazing memory, etc, etc. And often she wants to be taught -- asking to do school. But sometimes, she gets really shy about repeating back or answering questions. The best example I can think of is from a few months ago, when she knew how to go from 1-10, but would pull back and clam up when we tried to move from "reciting numbers" to "counting items". She was right on the verge of being able to doing it (we'd overhear her getting it mostly right), she just... wouldn't for us.

It really seems to happen most when she's just on the verge of grasping something.

We've found a few ways to get past the hesitation. One is just dropping it for a while. Often, with a few days to process on her own, she'll become more confident and be more open to sharing her knowledge with us.

The other way is to find a new, fun way to present it. This is what DH did with the counting. DD had never seen Sesame Street (we don't do TV), so DH pulled up a few YouTube videos of Count von Count. DD LOVED him and the count-then-laugh idea. That afternoon, she started counting (and laughing) up a storm.

I have to admit, I tend to forget that this seems to be a natural part of her learning process, and I get frustrated with it because she ASKS to learn something, but then she pulls back from it. Once I let go, though, she makes amazing strides forward.