Bit of a regression in 29 mo toddler....

[Blessed_Mom]

Hi,

My DD is a very very bright child. She started talking at the age of 14 mos (which isn't super early) BUT she picked up the language so fast.... she was talking like a 3 yr old at age 2 and now talks more like a 4 yr old (grammar, complex structure, construct) etc. Her vocab may be in the 1500-2000 mark. She is a chatterbox.

She learned the alphabet song by age 2 and counting from 1-20 way before that. She could look at the numbers and point from 1 - 10 correctly 2 months ago. I never really tried teaching her these things...she learned more in play.

Since last month I am actively trying to teach her to recognize the alphabets and i find that she is regressing in reciting 1-20 and pointing to the right numbers.

Also her "learning to recognize the alph" lessons are going very very slow. For someone who is as bright as she is - it is a bit baffling to me.

I tried taking it slow and teach her to look at ABCDE and learn to recognize them and by next day she is getting confused again.

Nothing else has changed. She still talks very lucidly and brilliantly. No health changes.

What could be happening?

[mommyofgb]

I don't think it sounds like regression, as much as boredom with counting/letters. My newly 3 year old is learning to recognize letters and I always thought, geez, she is just not getting it. But we can be out somewhere and she will bust out with ''Look mommy, there's an A!'' pointing to the right letter. And then the next day I can ask her to show me the A and she will point to the J, so who knows....but I does not sound like regression.

[Megan73]

Maybe she's happy to learn by osmosis but resisting the drilling. I'm with her - I can't think of any reason to teach a two-year-old the alphabet!

[Bokonon]

Honestly, that doesn't sound very concerning to me.  Like the PP said, she may just be disinterested in the lessons.  And like you said, she learned many other things by play, so it may be that suddenly being schooled instead of learning through play is boring to her.

I would suggest just keeping it simple and casual.  Sing the alphabet song.  Read to her and point out letters here and there.  Point to letters on signs when you are out and about.  There is no hurry, really.  There are 26 letters to know, and a lot of them look and sound the same - it can be confusing and overwhelming for a little one!  And at 2 years old, no matter how smart she is, she doesn't NEED to know them right away.  There is plenty of time.  :)

[Blessed_Mom]

Thanks all.... sorry the title didn't take ..she is 29 mos... so 1 mo short of 2.5 yrs.

And I am not as worried about her not learning new things as of the fact that she seems to have "lost" the abilities (recognizing the numbers, reciting numbers 1-20) which she used to recite perfectly before.

And I am in between letting her learn via play and real-life examples and teaching her (schooling) - divided at best. Definitely once she crosses 3 she WILL be schooled (that I am clear about). Right now I am unconcerned about schooling her.

I just thought that since she had learnt numbers and sings the alphabet song - maybe it was time to "teach" her something new ....just as a bit of natural progression than anything.

And it is cold and rainy here (Seattle) so we are much more cooped up at home and so the idea. As I mentioned - no worries if she doesn't learn the alphabet as smartly (although that part is a bit puzzling, niggling to me....She is extremely bright....then why is she not getting it?? Shrug. I go between nagging doubt and shrugging) but why did she forget the counting from 1-20? Sniffle... this part I am a bit sad about

[Bokonon]

She may be working on physical milestones that you aren't seeing.  I know my kids always alternated working on verbal milestones and skills with physical ones.  For example, my son was very verbal but was physically delayed.  When he started walking, his verbal skills started leveling off.

[Blessed_Mom]

Leveling off? Or regression? So forgetting what she knew earlier is fine?

She is learning to paint these days. And as I mentioned I am/was trying to teach her to recognize the alphabet....

Maybe I should lay off...

[Bokonon]

Originally Posted by Blessed_Mom 

Leveling off? Or regression? So forgetting what she knew earlier is fine?

She is learning to paint these days. And as I mentioned I am/was trying to teach her to recognize the alphabet....

Maybe I should lay off...

I really don't think she's "forgetten" or regressed - that would be highly unusual and unlikely.  It's probably just that she's less interested in reciting what she knows.  Like when kids start reading, they don't always read out loud, but that doesn't mean they aren't reading.

[Blessed_Mom]

Ok just when I was about to relax ... you say that forgetting is unusual? And unlikely?

But she acts like she has forgotten....she is not refusing to recite the numbers 1-20... she starts and stumbles and looks confused and picks back again...

[Bokonon]

Originally Posted by Blessed_Mom 

Ok just when I was about to relax ... you say that forgetting is unusual? And unlikely?

But she acts like she has forgotten....she is not refusing to recite the numbers 1-20... she starts and stumbles and looks confused and picks back again...

I really think you're overthinking this.  Please relax.  Toddlers are unusual beasts.  You are assuming that she has completely lost this information, when she's just exhibiting normal toddler behavior.  My son was able to count to 20 and then started skipping 18 every time.  It was just something he did.  He can count past 100 now, and count by 10s...it was just a little blip.  They all do it!

[crunchy_mommy]

I don't really teach DS things (at least not deliberately/formally) and he does the same thing as your DD. There are things he had down pat at this time last year that he has seem to forgotten now. I assume it's just like when older kids & adults learn things (whether formally or through work/play/etc.) that some things are retained long-term and others aren't. For example, I know at one point I knew all of the major Renaissance artists and their works, dates, etc. but now I would be stumped if someone quizzed me on it. It's just not something I ever really needed for work or daily life so I 'lost' it... though I'm sure if I had to relearn it I would do so more quickly the second time around!

Letters and numbers just aren't things a 2yo really needs to know for their daily life... so it makes sense that she might master it then forget it... and is probably just not interested in relearning it right now, or not into the formal lessons. DS has a few books that he could recite ('read') to me, and after not reading them for a while, he forgot them. Now when I reads those books he just isn't into memorizing & reciting them, I guess because they aren't as interesting anymore. But he still recites other books that he IS interested in, so it's not really a loss of skill or regression. The alphabet/numbers are the same way for your DD, just something she was kind of reciting, and now it has lost its appeal. I am guessing she probably still recites/identifies other things, like maybe different animals or colors, or songs, or books?? So she hasn't lost the skill of reciting/ID'ing -- she's just using it differently for now.

[Blessed_Mom]

I think you nailed it crunchy_momma