[lactavia]

I have a 21 month old son. Today we were laying in the tent we have set out back (we want him to get used to it before we attempt to go camping). I asked him if he wanted to count. Never asked him before and he looks at me and starts with his fingers "1, 2, 3, 4" and so on up to 10 and falls over laughing his head off.<br><br>
I'm floored. Is this right? 21 months? How old was yours when they started to count? I figured that was something that was for 2+

 

[LianneM]

DS was counting by then as well - normal to me <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/thumb.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="thumbs up"><br><br>
He's up to 12 now, at 28 months, and he consistently says 12... 15... 17... <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/lol.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="lol">

 

[Mizelenius]

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<div>Originally Posted by <strong>LianneM</strong> <a href="/community/forum/post/8485154"><img alt="View Post" class="inlineimg" src="/community/img/forum/go_quote.gif" style="border:0px solid;"></a></div>
<div style="font-style:italic;">DS was counting by then as well - normal to me <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/thumb.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="thumbs up"><br></div>
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Yeah, my DD has been counting for a few months (she is 22 months now) BUT I think what is cool about your son, OP, is that he easily got that one-to-one correspondence. He wasn't just doing rote . . .and all the way up to 10! <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/clap.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="clap"> My DD has the 1-1 idea, but she will miss things/count things twice.<br><br>
Very cool!

 

[Pepperdove]

DS is 23 months and counts well to 10, and skips around in the teens. He knows the alphabet too. Songs help learning so much!<br><br>
What a cute story, btw...

 

[Cujobunny]

yep sounds about the same here too. He's almost 28 mo now and can count to 20 although he usually leaves out 14,15,16. <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/lol.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="lol">

 

[trini]

I think rote counting is proably pretty common at that age. But the 1-1 thing is not as common.<br><br>
DS2 is 23 months and has been counting for quite a while. Several months ago he counted 6 puppets and I was floored because he counted them correctly as he put each one back in the bin.<br><br>
He rote counts to 16 (we have 16 steps in our house) but invariably skips the number 2.<br><br>
But don't the simply amaze you? I LOVE it when he busts out with something I had no idea he could do!

 

[WhaleinGaloshes]

My DD just started counting to 10 a few weeks ago, she's 21 months, too. I discovered a week later she can also read the numbers 1 through 9; you can ask her to identify #'s on a phone or keyboard or draw them for her in random order and she calls them out. Laughs like crazy, too.<br><br>
So much fun!<br><br>
I'll add: my DD surprised me with this becasue she has a very limited spoken vocabulary -- she's at about 35 words or so not including 1-10-- so although she has great receptive language and can follow directions and all that, it's harder to tell what she's thinking. Makes you wonder what else is kicking around in that little head waiting to come out, no?

 

[hottmama]

My 18 mo. old repeats everything, so if I say "1, 2, 3, 4, 5" he'll say it back, but he doesn't count. He cracked me up when he repeated "1, 2, 3!" at 15 mos. though.

 

[Ladybug92405]

My dd is 21 months and just recently she counted to 10. Every now and then she'll skip a number or start at 2, but, like you, I was amazed! It was funny because she's always counted numbers, but never in order. All of a sudden, one day, she just did it! Now, she likes to count anything she can see in our house. That's how I know (at least I think I know) that she really understands it, she's not just copying me or my dh. Now...onto the alphabet!

 

[ani'smommy]

My dd is 2.5 and she counted like that around that age, too. Now, however, she likes to get fancy and throw in "eleventeen" and "twentytwo" randomly.<br><br>
Or sometimes even "one, two, three, four, mommy!" silly girl. <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/lol.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="lol">

 

[honeybunmom]

DD will be 20 mos tomorrow and just recently started counting by rote up to about 8, but then she'll even count a few blocks or other random things up to about 4!

 

[Mizelenius]

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<div>Originally Posted by <strong>Ladybug92405</strong> <a href="/community/forum/post/8490636"><img alt="View Post" class="inlineimg" src="/community/img/forum/go_quote.gif" style="border:0px solid;"></a></div>
<div style="font-style:italic;">Now...onto the alphabet!</div>
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Hey-- when you do the alphabet, avoid letter names. Stick to sounds.

 

[stlmomof2]

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<div>Originally Posted by <strong>Mizelenius</strong> <a href="/community/forum/post/8492734"><img alt="View Post" class="inlineimg" src="/community/img/forum/go_quote.gif" style="border:0px solid;"></a></div>
<div style="font-style:italic;">Hey-- when you do the alphabet, avoid letter names. Stick to sounds.</div>
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Sounds good for the young toddler years but probably more confusing in the long run. Do you later say, "Yes, I know it's 'guh,' but sometimes 'guh' is 'juh?'" I would say, "It's name is G. It usually makes a 'guh' sound. It sometimes makes a 'juh' sound." I use both. "This is what it is. This is what it does."

 

[lucky_mia]

DD, 18 months, just started counting to 10 and DS can get to 4 then skips to 8,9. They have started recognize some numbers too. So fun! <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/lol.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="lol">

 

[duckmom]

DS is 17 months today and counts to 10, although he sometimes skips 4. he tries to hold up fingers, but really only uses one -- it's too cute! when you ask him how old he is, he shouts "one!" and holds that little crooked finger up so proudly <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/lol.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="lol">

 

[Mizelenius]

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<div>Originally Posted by <strong>mandymichel</strong> <a href="/community/forum/post/8493440"><img alt="View Post" class="inlineimg" src="/community/img/forum/go_quote.gif" style="border:0px solid;"></a></div>
<div style="font-style:italic;">Sounds good for the young toddler years but probably more confusing in the long run. Do you later say, "Yes, I know it's 'guh,' but sometimes 'guh' is 'juh?'" I would say, "It's name is G. It usually makes a 'guh' sound. It sometimes makes a 'juh' sound." I use both. "This is what it is. This is what it does."</div>
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No, it's really not confusing for them . . .it is more confusing to introduce the letter name-- AT ALL, believe it or not!<br><br>
I will give you my oldest as an example. She was 5 in February, but had been reading (fluently) since 4.5 We never taught her how to read except by (1) reading to her daily and (2) helping her with the sounds that letters make. She started off by wanting to write (on her own) and then progressed to reading. She knows all the letters by name and the sounds they make, just through her OWN use, if that makes sense. (And of course, no child can escape hearing the alphabet song!) Since she can read and write, now she uses the letter names to check her spelling with us, but the use is limited to that. They are simply a name for letters, and knowing the name of letters is far less relevant than the sounds the letters make.<br><br>
What I think is the most important thing is to keep it in context. Do not just go around naming the sounds unless your child asks. If they do, just pick one sound to start. English is so tricky because of all the sounds the letters make. (In Spanish, for example, the vowels are always the same! Much easier!) I think it always has to be meaningful. In order to keep it meaningful, make the most use out of environmental print. Take time to write what your child says down, in front of your child . . .read it back to him/her and have your child read it to YOU. They can do it!

 

[naismama]

Isn't it cool when they surprise you that way? DD was counting to ten at 19 months. Then once just to mess with her, once she got to ten I yelled "eleven!" I was floored when she shouted back "twelve!" and we went back and forth all the way to 20. I have NO idea where she learned this. Now she counts 1-12, 15, 17, 18 20<img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/orngtongue.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="Stick Out Tongue">

 

[stlmomof2]

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<div>Originally Posted by <strong>Mizelenius</strong> <a href="/community/forum/post/8495818"><img alt="View Post" class="inlineimg" src="/community/img/forum/go_quote.gif" style="border:0px solid;"></a></div>
<div style="font-style:italic;">No, it's really not confusing for them . . .it is more confusing to introduce the letter name-- AT ALL, believe it or not!<br><br>
I will give you my oldest as an example. She was 5 in February, but had been reading (fluently) since 4.5 We never taught her how to read except by (1) reading to her daily and (2) helping her with the sounds that letters make. She started off by wanting to write (on her own) and then progressed to reading. She knows all the letters by name and the sounds they make, just through her OWN use, if that makes sense. (And of course, no child can escape hearing the alphabet song!) Since she can read and write, now she uses the letter names to check her spelling with us, but the use is limited to that. They are simply a name for letters, and knowing the name of letters is far less relevant than the sounds the letters make.<br><br>
What I think is the most important thing is to keep it in context. Do not just go around naming the sounds unless your child asks. If they do, just pick one sound to start. English is so tricky because of all the sounds the letters make. (In Spanish, for example, the vowels are always the same! Much easier!) I think it always has to be meaningful. In order to keep it meaningful, make the most use out of environmental print. Take time to write what your child says down, in front of your child . . .read it back to him/her and have your child read it to YOU. They can do it!</div>
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There may be truth to what you say, but I'm still skeptical, because not all kids will use phonics to learn to read--maybe half of them will. When I learned to read, for instance, it was definitely in a more whole language way, and I thought of the words as pictures.<br><br>
About counting: I thought it was so crazy that all of these kids were already counting and then my husband got my 20 month old counting to ten (prompted by his fingers) that very evening. I probably would never have discovered that on my own because it just seemed wrong to me for such young kids to count. I guess it's not really wrong, but it's weird to watch.

 

[Mizelenius]

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<div>Originally Posted by <strong>mandymichel</strong> <a href="/community/forum/post/8510121"><img alt="View Post" class="inlineimg" src="/community/img/forum/go_quote.gif" style="border:0px solid;"></a></div>
<div style="font-style:italic;">There may be truth to what you say, but I'm still skeptical, because not all kids will use phonics to learn to read--maybe half of them will. When I learned to read, for instance, it was definitely in a more whole language way, and I thought of the words as pictures.<br></div>
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It's a myth that phonics are not part of whole language. <i>Everyone</i> utilizes phonics. And actually, other than discussing that one should avoid teaching letter names and stick with the sounds that letters make, everything else I mentioned is not phonics, per se, such as using language experience. We actually "taught" phonics in a very limited way. My DD learned to read because it has always been meaningful and her learning has been led by her.