Toddlers And Spelling

[IwannaBanRN]

So, I have a very exciting and cute milestone for my daughter.(and also wanted to brag lol) She just turned 2 yesterday, and knows her numbers 1-10 in English and Spanish already, so we started on her ABC's and shapes. Well, I have a habit of wearing my favorite college football team t-shirt quite often. (Montana Grizzlies) So everytime I wear it, we go over the word "Montana" upon her request. We went over it once today and then she randomly came up to me and pointed out each letter in order for the word Montana and spelled it out loud all by herself! I can't believe how smart and grown up she is being at such a young age! I'm so proud of her! Is anyone else's 2 year old or even 3 year olds doing cute and amazing things?

[cameragirl]

That's awesome! DD is past that point, but she was really into shapes around that age. She figured out what was on street signs and would yell "octagon!" and "stop!" when she saw a stop sign.

[IwannaBanRN]

That's so cool! She's not so much into shapes or colors. DD would rather look at books with words and not many pictures. She might end up a book worm. lol And, being left-handed, I'm sure she's bound to be very creative.

[Kedrosami]

My DS just turned 2 last week and he's amazing at drawing! He has been drawing cars lately and they're actually recognizable as cars--2 wheels and the outline of hood, roof and bumpers. I'm totally impressed!

[IwannaBanRN]

Must take after mommy! Miss oil painter, there. lol My daughter amazes me more everyday. I love my kids!

[organicviolin]

awesome!  my 2 year old can "read" or recognize several words now, is counting in English/Spanish and speaks in both languages.  He also knows shapes and colors.  He's trying to figure out how to write some times ;-)  I am so impressed with him!  He also copies me with his violin playing :)  I'm a concert violinist so he likes to "practice" when I'm doing it.... lol

[IwannaBanRN]

That is so precious! My daughter will watch Dora or Diego on Nick Jr and get her words from them, but I taught her Spanish numbers. She also watches that show Ni Hao Kai-Lan show and picks up words from it like the word "hug" "push" "red" "green" and "thank you". She gave DH a hug the other day and said the Chinese word for hug and he was like huh? And I told him what it was and he was so happy with her. lol I love parenting little geniuses!

[organicviolin]

me too!!!!!

[sweetBBkendall]

My 1.5year (20mo) daughter isn't so much interested in shapes or colors but you should hear her sound off the letters of the alphabet! We have the foam letters for the bathtub and also the magnets for the fridge and she knows about every one of them. If we go to the store she will point out the letters in the signs in front of the cash register, it's actually pretty amazing and given her age I couldn't be happier. We are working on numbers right now, she can say 6-10 every time but skips around a bit before we get to that point :) For anyone looking for a way to teach their child to read I totally recommend a TV program called WORD WORLD. It's a pbs show and there is just nothing like it for teaching phonics or just getting little kids excited about the alphabet. It was just taken off our netflix que and my daughter was absolutely crushed! Good thing the DVD's are on their way...

[IwannaBanRN]

Thanks for the tipper on the word show, sweetBBkendall! That is so cool that she knows most of her alphabet at such a young age. We started with her numbers when she was really squirmy while I changed her or gave her a bath. I'd lay her down and get her to calm down by counting with her.

[JudiAU]

DS knew all of his alphabet by sight before 2. He actually had very little language skills at that time but his first words were colors and then the alphabet. It was only much later that he could sing the alphabet song. The alphabet was his friend for a long time. (Note thought that early alphabet letter identification is not spelling nor does it usually result in early reading.) We didn't particularly teach him, he was just interested and had some bocks and a puzzle.

DD is 2 and isn't interested/doesn't get it. She has amazing language skills. She does know colors and some shapes and how to load a playmobil cannon./ =)

We are media-free.

[e_liz2k]

My ds is 16 months and knows most of the alphabet, upper and lower case by sight and know most of their sounds as well. He loves the alphabet. He has recently gotten in to counting. It's funny because he seems so advanced in some areas but still won't use a spoon or say very many words.

[IwannaBanRN]

My daughter had no interest in using silverware the proper way until like 2 months ago and she JUST turned 2. It was fine with me, because she mostly eats foods she can eat with her hands anyway.

[sosurreal09]

My DD just turned 2 and is spelling like crazy! Everywhere we go she spells out the signs and everything. She doesn't know Spanish but is counting to 19. She seems to be able to actually read some 3 letter words at this point as well. Like PP said she's not too advanced language wise. She has a lot of words and phrases but I have definitely seen kids talking a lot more than her at this age.

[diana_of_the_dunes]

I just did a blog post on this, and I'm so excited that I wanted to share somewhere!  I've noticed that DS seems to have a big vocabulary, but since he's my first, I didn't think too much about it.  And then I read online that the average 2 - 3 year old has a 30 - 50 word vocabulary.  DS knows more than 220 words (and by knowing, I mean that he says them spontaneously, when he sees a picture, or when he sees something in real life. No help from us, though he can parrot many more).  His counting is terrible, I haven't worked at all on letter recognition, and his fine motor skills are not-so-great.  But boy can he talk! 

[IwannaBanRN]

Originally Posted by diana_of_the_dunes 

I just did a blog post on this, and I'm so excited that I wanted to share somewhere!  I've noticed that DS seems to have a big vocabulary, but since he's my first, I didn't think too much about it.  And then I read online that the average 2 - 3 year old has a 30 - 50 word vocabulary.  DS knows more than 220 words (and by knowing, I mean that he says them spontaneously, when he sees a picture, or when he sees something in real life. No help from us, though he can parrot many more).  His counting is terrible, I haven't worked at all on letter recognition, and his fine motor skills are not-so-great.  But boy can he talk! 

ONLY 30-50? Seriously?! I could fill 5 pages full of the words DD knows(and that's just off the top of my head!)! Everytime she opens her mouth, it's a full sentence and almost all of it is distinguishable. I never have to have her repeat what she says so I understand it.

[diana_of_the_dunes]

I've since found other sources that say about 200 is average.  My first source was a Disney page, so maybe they're just trying to make parents think that their shows are making their kids into geniuses?  Or...  Perhaps the 200 words is an older study.  I found another page that said first graders used to know 4000 words, but now average only 1000 because of media and television-watching instead of reading.

I'm not sure.  But I have yet to find a compelling reason to let DS watch television.  We're not totally media-free; since he's obsessed with construction vehicles, DH and I find videos of construction sites on YouTube and let him watch the various machines.  But that's maybe 15 minutes per day.  We read a lot, and most of his time is spent in free play outside or in the house.

My DS sounds like your DD.  I didn't include foods in the 220 words, and I've since thought of at least 50 more.  He's very intelligible and uses pretty complete sentences (though usually without articles). 

ETA: Here's a snip of a more in-depth description of "normal" speech for a toddler:

25 to 30 months
Now that he has a bigger vocabulary, your toddler will begin to experiment with modulation. For a while he may yell when he means to speak normally and whisper softly when answering a question, but he'll find the appropriate volume soon enough. He's also starting to get the hang of pronouns, such as "I," "me," and "you." Between ages 2 and 3, his working vocabulary will grow to up to 300 words — and he'll understand up to 900 words. He'll string nouns and verbs together to form complete but simple sentences, such as "I go now."

He'll even get the hang of speaking about events that happened in the past. He may not quite understand the concept of irregular forms, though, so you'll hear expressions like "I runned" or "I swimmed" and plurals like "mouses." Sure, it's cute, but it also shows that he's picking up on the basic rules of grammar (that you add a "d" sound to a word if it happened yesterday, for example, and an "s" sound to make things plural).

At this age, your child will start answering simple questions, such as "Do you want a snack?" and "Where are your shoes?"

That seems more reasonable, though DS can already do some of the things listed for 31 - 36 months, uses at least 300 words, and understands EVERYTHING we say. 

[ellemenope]

This is my favorite language tracker from The child development institute  It seems to be pretty on the mark as far as what is "typical".  Other lists are often written to screen for delays and the need for intervention.  FWIW, I have since been involved with 7 preschool activities with my DD and can say that most of the 2-3 year olds were within these ranges or pretty close.  It is normal for early development to be non-linear.  My niece had about 5 words at 24 months, and was then speaking in 3-10 word sentences a couple of weeks later with tons of words.

Typical language skills of a 24 month old:

• Can name a number of objects common to his surroundings
• Is able to use at least two prepositions, usually chosen from the following: in, on, under
• Combines words into a short sentence-largely noun-verb combinations (mean) length of sentences is given as 1.2 words
• Approximately 2/3 of what child says should be intelligible
• Vocabulary of approximately 150-300 words
• Rhythm and fluency often poor
• Volume and pitch of voice not yet well-controlled
• Can use two pronouns correctly: I, me, you, although me and I are often confused
• My and mine are beginning to emerge
• Responds to such commands as "show me your eyes (nose, mouth, hair)"

by 36 months old:

• Use pronouns I, you, me correctly
• Is using some plurals and past tenses
• Knows at least three prepositions, usually in, on, under
• Knows chief parts of body and should be able to indicate these if not name
• Handles three word sentences easily
• Has in the neighborhood of 900-1000 words
• About 90% of what child says should be intelligible
• Verbs begin to predominate
• Understands most simple questions dealing with his environment and activities
• Relates his experiences so that they can be followed with reason
• Able to reason out such questions as "what must you do when you are sleepy, hungry, cool, or thirsty?"
• Should be able to give his sex, name, age
• Should not be expected to answer all questions even though he understands what is expected

[pranava]

Thanks for the link ellemenope!  I always like to find a reliable developmental site. 

My son's grammar is cracking me up lately.  He's 30 months and saying "you and I are going to the store, Mommy."  It's right, but it sounds so proper coming from such a tiny body!  Yet at the same time he holds on to "I want to pick you up"  which mean he wants Me to pick Him up.  He reverses no other pronouns but this phrase.  Talking 2 year olds are the cutest

[coldandsleepy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pranava 

Thanks for the link ellemenope!  I always like to find a reliable developmental site. 

My son's grammar is cracking me up lately.  He's 30 months and saying "you and I are going to the store, Mommy."  It's right, but it sounds so proper coming from such a tiny body!  Yet at the same time he holds on to "I want to pick you up"  which mean he wants Me to pick Him up.  He reverses no other pronouns but this phrase.  Talking 2 year olds are the cutest

Heh heh... this made me laugh. My 2 year old loves to start question with "shall we" like "shall we go to the store?" "shall we read books together?" and I know what you mean... it sounds ludicrously formal coming from such a little kid.