at 2.5yrs

[engee]

Hello,

I am a SAHM of a 2.5y old son.I wanted to know what all should a child of 2.5 know?
i mean other than the upper and lower case alphabets and numbers,months of teh yr ,days of the week or rainbow and colors....
being a SAHM i think i am responsible to do anythn in my capability to teach him all that is needed.
What else do you mums suggest?
he hates the addition and subtraction stuff.i tried the solar system nd telln the time but it din seem to click.
nope i am not the mum expectn miracles or anythn like that.i just tot that i shud be able to do/teach somethn gud.thats all.
please fill in ur comments.
engee

[carang]

my brother and his partner never "taught" their son anything. he hated "learning" BUT they talked to him all the time. and used the proper words for things, NOT baby/children's words...

by the time he was 3 he had the vocabulary of a 12 year old.

he'd say things like,

upon getting out of the shower, he put his foot up on the counter
"look at me grandma, i'm very AGILE!"

"WOW! your garden is ENORMOUS!"

"that dog is quite OBESE, isn't it?"

"don't say things like that, it shows you're IGNORANT!"

"building that lego house was a GARGANTUAN TASK!"

"i like VIOLENCE....when it's used to fight EVIL!"

you can see, that not only did he know the words, but he knew how to use them properly!!

the best way to teach your child is to talk to them, when you go for a walk, point things out to him. ask him questions about what he can see. if there is something that he enjoys (ie dinosaurs etc) make sure he has these things around to stimulate him. also, buy LOTS OF books! and read to him! take him to the library, so he can choose his own books.

[engee]

Hey Carang,thats excellent!
thanx for sharing!
yes i read to him everyday but he is too busy running around the libraray so he doesnt take his own buks or anythn.

thanx!

[capital]

I think the best way you can teach a child that age is to play with them and expand on what they are interested it. I would skip any book type work. Read books of what he is interested in. Children that age learn by doing and experiencing.
My son just turned 3. He knows most of his colors, can count to 15, which he mostly learned by counting when we go up and down stairs, he likes that and thinks it is fun. He is no where near understanding the concepts of addition and subtraction. I think it pretty unlikely a 2.5 year old will understand that. He knows the alphabet in song form. He likes to be read stories or look at books by himself. He knows what a word is, but has no interest in learning the individual letters and certainly doesn't understand upper vs. lower case. Learning time will take a long time. Preschool children don't really have a good understanding of time yet. he is starting to learn that there are different days and they have names (tuesday, etc) but he doesn't know the order yet.

Don't worry too much about what other people tell you what they think your child should know, every child learns at his own pace. Baring any major developmental problem, your child will be just as smart as his classmates in the future.

[elephantine]

Please don't take this the wrong way but when I read the first post in this thread, I actually thought it was a joke - then realized it must be serious. IMO, if your child can do all that at 2.5 years, s/he is absolutely amazing (my one is 20 months and can barely say a few words, and I'd be astonished if he knew many numbers, the entire alphabet, etc. by even 3 or 4).
The only thing you may have to worry about is about "over-teaching". I didn't even start adding and subtracting until I was at least six, but I'm sure my parents weren't the least bit worried! I ended up with a first-class honours degree from Oxbridge and an Ivy League masters degree - this is something which I normally don't bring up and is generally irrelevant to a kid's forum - I only mention it here because I wanted to say that it is possible to do "well" in one's later education (in a mainstream way of thinking) even without reaching the traditional milestones early on in life! My parents both had full-time jobs and I had an illiterate amah, but I do remember my mum reading me fun books every evening when she got home from work, and I never lost the love of reading. By contrast, a second cousin of mine was a star primary school student who was heavily tutored but then just got sick of learning later in school and didn't go to university. Just food for thought...
I think you are doing brilliantly as it is in raising your child, so don't worry about exactly what how much s/he's picking up. As another poster indicated, just try to keep learning low-key and a lot of fun.

[engee]

Dear Capital and Elephantine,

Ur posts made me feel at ease and am glad there are people out there who appreciate and point out all that is necessry.
Both of u r right.
Thanx a lot friends!

sincerely
engee

[joannek]

i totally agree with elephantine. i usually put a reply post on the interesting threads, this one is sure interesting, but i just didn't know what to reply. i didn't know a 2.5 yo is suppose to know the upper & lower case & the numbers. i felt so out of place here cos i never taught my daughter to read the alphabets/numbers yet (she'll be 2 next week). it's only recently that she started talking & counting, it's only because the previous nanny left, & the new one teaches her how to count.

but i'm proud of my daughter who can kick a ball forward, put puzzles together, jump & climb, knows how to break a fall by balancing herself with open arms, dress herself & feed herself. she's starting to try to put on her shoes. plus she picks up after herself & behaves well in public. to me, these are important for such a young child. they learn their letters & numbers at school anyway. i think out role is to teach them things that they probably can't learn at school.....

[engee]

I too dont think a 2.5yr old kid is "supposed" to know alphabets etc etc.I just wanted to make sure that i am movn on the right track especially as am staying home all day with him.i am not sendn him to a playschool so i din want him to miss anythn.We are sort of lonely here ,no friends and being a mom for the first time guess i am just anxious
Anyway i was never sittng down and teachn him ABC etc.Its all play and fun.Counting as we count the stairs or stick pictures,read books....

And when u say "to me, these are important for such a young child",i am sure thats how all moms and dads feel,including me!!!