2yo colors, numbers letters, shapes - Page 2

[sapphire_chan]

Here's one such chart.

Starting to recognize ABCs is an "advanced skill" for 27-28 month olds. Naming one color is advanced for 30 month olds Puts it in perspective, doesn't it?

[laughymama]

Originally Posted by sapphire_chan

Here's one such chart.

Starting to recognize ABCs is an "advanced skill" for 27-28 month olds. Naming one color is advanced for 30 month olds Puts it in perspective, doesn't it?

Thank you for this.

OP - My son just turned 2 last Friday. He has no idea what a letter even is, does not know a single color or shape.
He can count. To 1.

Sometimes it's discouraging when everyone around you has a child who is advanced or doing all these things your child isn't. Plus, people like to butt in and tell you they should be doing 'this, this and that' so it only makes a mama worry more.
You're not alone. It's stressful when I let it get to me.

Our DS has a cousin who has always been EXTREMELY verbally advanced. It's hard to try to explain to the family that not all 2 year olds are reading and speaking clearly and fluently when that's all they've seen. Comments are made frequently about DS "taking his time". Granted, people mean well...it can be tiring though.

I think it sounds like you do a good job.

[Curious]

We're Waldorf homeschooling. Waldorf for young children is not academic. The point is to develop creativity so that kids will be able to adapt to whatever the world is when they grow up. Academically, socially, technologically - who knows really?

Dh has been 99% with me. The one time he lapsed was when he met someone with another 18 month old who could count to 100 when Dd only knew what two was because she had two breasts to choose from.

Dd is almost 9. Colors she figured out when she got interested in wearing clothes around age 6. She is excellent with numbers, especially now that she's saving money for doll clothes. She now reads in two languages with different alphabets, having started formal Waldorf reading instruction at age 7. The English just started picking up last week.

My ILs, who seemed to constantly making comments about all the things Dd could NOT do, have stopped commenting on the shortcomings of her performance. Their silence has been the biggest endorsement that I've done something right.

Don't worry, don't worry, don't worry is all I can say. Spend your time letting your little one know she is loved. Let her see the beauty in the world and she will see it in herself. Let her find the spiritual path that is your family's, so that she will always feel a source of strength. My advice is to put all thoughts of 'teaching' your child out the window. It's summer! Grab your baby and have fun!

[kcstar]

At 24 months, I don't think DS knew any of the above. I first heard him recognize colors somewhere around 26 months. The colors he named? Elmo (for red), Big Bird (for yellow), and Cookie Monster (for blue). He's since added Oscar for green.

He was 25 months when I first heard him point out letters to me.

The two shapes he recognizes right now, at 32 months, are circle (he calls it the letter O) and star.

Give it time. They grow up very quickly in the second year. And when I started school, much of this was Kindergarten-level curriculum.

[ellemenope]

Would you worry about your DC not yet knowing the names of each Backyardigan or Muppet?

Because that is about the same skill as learning the names of colors, numbers, letters, and shapes. If there is no interest, why harp on it? You wouldn't drill your kid about atomic numbers. (I hope not!) They're babies!

Of course there are tons of 1 year olds out there interested in print. And colors and shapes just click with others.

It means nothing!

FWIW I am pretty sure I could take a typical 4 year old who had absolutely no exposure to the alphabet and get them to memorize all the letters in less than a day. It is really not that hard to learn. Now, the fine motor skills needed to write the alphabet... That is another story. I would focus on that.

[loraxc]

The PBS Kids child development tracker is a good one to check to get your bearings:

http://www.pbs.org/parents/childdevelopment/

Briefly, though, don't worry about it. It's very normal for a 2yo not to know this stuff. It's the norm, in fact.

Keep in mind, too, that people whose kids DID know this at two are always more likely to post in a thread like this.

[Materfamilias]

Originally Posted by loraxc

Keep in mind, too, that people whose kids DID know this at two are always more likely to post in a thread like this.

I think this is true. It's actually a little alarming to have a kid who's doing some of these things. There's really no one of my IRL friends I can talk to about it, because it sounds like I'm bragging when I mention what DD is up to. It's not even that "advanced" but it seems to come across as comparing their kids, KWIM? So when I see threads like this I tend to lurk.

[lyra2007]

I'm sorry, I SOOO did not mean to imply that you were pressuring your child. I just meant I have seen other people do that and it backfires.

[Ileapb4Ilook]

My 5 year old is very well spoken but on-level intellectually. He's mastered all objectives for his grade but hasn't been deemed advanced and that's fine. I don't want to pressure him so much that he hates learning. I want to preserve his childlike curiosity. My 2 year old, almost 2.5, is advanced, and I'm almost afraid to say it out load because many people in my family have children his age and a little older who aren't doing what he does. He can count well past 20, knows his ABCs and many letters, all colors, shapes, how to spell his name, uses full sentences, sings, etc. He has been doing most of this since before he turned 2. I think it's a combination of nature and nuture. I don't think that because of this, he is any more spectacular than the other children in his class or age who don't know these things. I guess because I'm the same type of instant learner, but I'm actually behind my friends in good decision making. Do I have a 3.9 GPA in college (biology/chemistry major) with very little studying? Yes. Has is taken me 7 years on and off to complete a degree because I've been fiddling around doing randomness and pouting about the unfairness of the world while my less intellectually-capabale friends have masters degrees? Heck yes! lol. I learned to read long before I went to kindergarten and could read and write a story easily in kindergarten, graduated from highschool early, and got a full ride academic scholarship to college. But the decisions that I've made since, with the exception of having my sons, have been questionable and often damaging. I'm finally in a pattern of good decision making, but not without a lot of pain and hard work.

I've said all this to say that I don't make a big deal about abilities and milestones with my children because I know that so many other things are more important. Are they happy, healthy, creative, inquisitive, excited? Are they well-rounded, respectful, confident, and good decision makers? I expect my children to do their very best at all times, within reason, but I don't expect them to excel at everything, especially when they're still practically babies. I can understand why, with everyone else tooting their childrens' abilities, you would feel like there is something wrong either with your teaching or your child's learning. But there's not! Children learn at different paces for different reasons. Unless there is an issue that actually needs treatment don't worry one bit. Your child is perfectly normal, will know what she needs to know on time, and you'll feel silly that you ever thought different. I went nuts during my 2 year old's infancy, convincing everyone that there was something gravely wrong my my baby because he was "just too quiet and calm". I really, really thought that he had a major mental disability at like 3-4 months old! Can we say obsessive. I can laugh at myself now, and you will too

P.S. I WISH that my kids would be more artistic than academic because I always wished I was. I'm in awe of the power of creativity. Right now, I'll settle for my oldest's train track designs and my youngest's booty songs that he creates while shakin that thang! LMAO

[swd12422]

I've been thinking about this thread and wanted to come back and post something else... I realized that I knew my letters by the time I was 2.5. (I had vision problems and the charts at the eye doctor helped me learn pretty quickly.) I was reading on my own by the time I started first grade. In third grade I was winning spelling bees that 5th and 6th graders were participating in.

Guess what? I'm not particularly successful. I'm pretty average, in fact. I wasn't a good student in school, didn't particularly care much for the learning format of public school, went to a good college where I barely decent grades (some just barely passing), and am employable. But I'm not an executive at some huge company; I'm not even in management. I have no desire to be. DH talks about me starting my own business when it's time for me to go back to work, and I picture myself working at Starbuck's, or being a receptionist at a doctor's office.

Just saying.... Early childhood "intelligence" doesn't indicate where your child will end up in life.

[ellemenope]

Originally Posted by swd12422

The few kids we know who do know that stuff at this age are either coached by parents, watch TV all day, or go to "school."

As I mentioned above, some kids are just interested in print.

My DD is one of them. In my DD's case she did not learn letters from a toy or the TV. She does not go to school. She learned them from us, because she would ask us what each letter was. She has done the same for animal and dinosaur species.

It is not fair to assume that children you know who love letters have actually been manipulated into doing so.

As for shapes and colors, that was definately more gestalt. I suppose DH and I use a pretty colorful and descriptive language. When she started talking, colors and shapes were among her first words.

I have a very bright soon to be 2 year old, but when I think of coaching the under 2 crowd I laugh. DD knew all her letter at 18 months or so. But, I have tried to get her to sing the alphabet for months (for the cuteness factor). Even now, all I get is ABCDEFG-QRSTUV-ABCDEFGHIJK-WXYZ-Now sing with me! Yay! She loves singing it. Sings it all the time. But, I can not get her to sing it right to save my life.

So, in the end, if a 2 year old can learn the abc's, 123's, shapes, and colors, it really says more about them than the parents or the product supposedly responsible for teaching them.

But, IMHO it does not mean these kids are any more bright than ones who we'll say are interested in vehicles and can tell you the make and model of a bunch of different cars. It just means that this stuff interests them, and that should be respected!