When should a child be expected

[minkin03]

to know their phone number and address? (at what age)

[hollytheteacher]

I think it's great when 3 year olds do. I know not all can but I do think it is a good thing if they can!

[HollyBearsMom]

I have no idea about "should" I never really thought about it before.

My son could do it w/ prompting at age 4. By age 5 he recite the whole thing.

[fritz]

My DS has known our address since he was 4 (as well as our full names, though thankfully he's never had to have us paged). He learned it quite easily. He's 5 now, and we're still working on getting him to memorize our phone number.

[neveryoumindthere]

hmm, my kids are 7 and 4 and neither of them know. I better work on that!

[Tiana]

We started working on it with our DD last summer when she was 3.5. She has been able to recite our entire phone number (including area code) for probably 6-7 months now. We're still working on the address. She knows the house number, but always forgets the street name.

I'm not sure when a child 'should' know these things, but for me, it was important for her to know when she started school (she started kindergarten this past fall, and knew her complete number within a month or so of starting).

[One_Girl]

My dd learned our phone number and address in kindergarten. We recently changed our number and I keep meaning to work with her on it.

[lonegirl]

My ds know both addresses (2cities). Not phone numbers as we don't have a land line that we use.

[CrazyCatLady]

I could do it when I was four. My daughter is almost six and is just not ready/getting it yet. But she has always known everyone's full names. So since we all have very unique names, I figure that could help for now should she ever get lost or something.

[Cascadian]

I got DDs to memorize our house phone when they were three - we made it into a song, otherwise I don't think they could have.

DD1 learned our address at 4ish.

I regularly let them make phoncalls to family/friends (ie. they do the dialling) and we go over the operator and 911 once in a while. (DD had this fabulously ANNOYING book with a touchtone keypad and 'emergency situations' on each page - she'd have to diall 911 on it to get the sirens to sound, otherwise they wouldn't sound...annoying, but great book)

[4evermom]

When I was a kid, it was a kindergarten requirement. That said, my ds did not positively know at age 5. He sometimes recited our phone number because he heard it on the answering machine frequently but I don't think he could have done it under pressure if he got lost.

[GuildJenn]

My son's known our address since he was 3.5. We're still working on the phone number (we have 10-digit calling and it's been hard; love the idea about the song!), but at least with our last name and address someone can find that. We've also taught him how to use the phone.

[4Marmalade]

My two older dc's were between 4-5 years of age when we taught them phone number, address and full names. We probably could have done it earlier but at 4-5 they learned it very quickly.

[zeldamomma]

Are you asking when you should teach your child, or are you planning an activity for kids, and wondering at what age most kids would know?

If it's the second, I would give parents a heads-up that they'll need to know their address, or have the information on-hand for kids who don't know. I think most kids know by age 6 or 7, but I have met a 12 year old who couldn't tell me her address. I guess it hadn't been important enough for her to remember-- she was a bright girl who knew lots of stuff, just not that.

[rere]

My daughter is 5 and doesn't know either but that's because I never thought of a reason to teach them to her.She knows her father's mobile phone number because she calls him often.What are the reasons you all are teaching your kids that info?What am I missing?

[Danielle283]

I taught my daughter when she was about 3.5. We would sing "123-4567, that's how you call mommy on the phone" to the ABC song and she picked it up pretty quick. Our address took a little longer, but she got it down eventually.

[lonegirl]

Originally Posted by rere

My daughter is 5 and doesn't know either but that's because I never thought of a reason to teach them to her.She knows her father's mobile phone number because she calls him often.What are the reasons you all are teaching your kids that info?What am I missing?

In case of an emergency...if they became lost, something happened etc.

[Grace and Granola]

Originally Posted by Danielle283

I taught my daughter when she was about 3.5. We would sing "123-4567, that's how you call mommy on the phone" to the ABC song and she picked it up pretty quick. Our address took a little longer, but she got it down eventually.

I love the song idea! I think I might steal it

We moved last summer when my boys were 2.5 and 4. That is what sparked the conversation about the address. Shortly after that the 4yo knew the address and his repetition very quickly taught the 2yo. The 2yo would always leave the 0 out of the street number, but now at 3 he's got it down. I hadn't taught the phone number, but that will be next!

[nextcommercial]

I know it was required for kindergarten entry when my daughter was entering school. (along with shoe tying)

I think my daughter knew her old address by about 4-ish. Then we moved and she didn't actually learn the new one until first grade.

[redpajama]

I don't know about "should," but my 5-year-old knew my husband's and my phone numbers (and used them liberally every time we were away from him for a while) around the time he turned 4. At that time, he also knew the street we lived on and could give directions (coming from the way we usually came home), as in "Take *this* street to *this* street to *this* street." We moved from that address just before he turned 4, and that "phase" (of wanting to always know the names of the streets we were on) passed, so it wasn't until recently that it occurred to me that I should teach him our address, so I did (around his 5th birthday) and he knows it now.

My 3.5-year-old doesn't know either.

Neither does my 9-month-old.

So I'd say...4ish.