Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Age or Ability Specific Forums Pre-school tips on what to "teach" to a 2 year old?

my younger son is 2 years 4 months and has mastered recognizing upper and lower case alphabet long time ago, counts objects and reads numbers to 20, knows all the basic shapes, 10 colors, phonetic sounds, "what letter comes next" sort of games ... two weeks ago started sounding out and reading simple words ... so pretty smart little boy, possibly gifted ... yet, he's in speech therapy for what was a serious delay (aside from numbers and letters he only had 10 words at 25 months ... now has probably about 200 words and learning phrases every day rather than simple words) ... and absolutely refuses to hold crayons or even utensils ... developmental therapist agreed with me that he simply isn't interested in the "normal" things and he's just focused elsewhere.

and here comes the question ... obviously he spends all day playing ... but he likes to flip through books, loves the alphabet ... but all the things we have are just too simple for him now and while he started reading, he's limited to just short words for now and more importantly is limited by his for now very small vocab. I have a bunch of pre-K through K curriculum books I got for my almost 4-year old but it's all too boring for him. It's usually pages and pages of worksheets to learn one letter or one number and he knows all these and can't practice writing yet since his fine motorics just isn't there yet ... is there anything else I can give him? I was thinking flash cards but I'd rather stay away from those so he doesn't read sight words yet ... I want him to keep using sounding words out for now. ... even the words he started sounding out last week, after he'd sound them out once or twice (like dog, cat, cow, hat, etc.) ... the next time he'd just glance at them and say them without a second thought. And from what I've read, I prefer the phonics route rather than memorizing words. ... so, what else is out there?

I would love to find something that would have "condensed" curriculum ... pretty much just FACTS without all the practice pages. Does it exist? I've been so desperate I started pulling out some pages out of the books we have and putting them into a binder but even that is just boring. Also, I don't want something where I'd have to "teach" him as I think he's too young for that ... more so something that he could grab and browse through when he's in his learning mode He loves to do this stuff in the evening before bedtime. That's when he brings me his magnadoodle and wants me to write words for him to read. I have always been the kind of person who said when I have kids, I want them to be kids and not worry about school stuff till they go to school ... but what do I do with a toddler that's learned all this on his own? lol

Oh, and I just downloaded some learning apps onto my Android tablet earlier this week and he loves it! ... especially since he's able to use the touch screen and he isn't as limited as if he had to use a pen / crayon ... but I'd rather have something real ... book or something than have him sit at a computer / tablet for hours a day

When my daughter was 26 months old I bought her a few children's picture encyclopedias, which I read to her. That's how I discovered her love for the solar system, which prompted additional books, videos, and toys. I think they are great tools for piquing children's interests, which will naturally lead to more in-depth learning.

Also about that time she demanded to partake in the penmanship classes at her daycare. In order to help her, her teachers would steady her hand as she wrote. That steadying made the difference between being able to do it and not. She knew what shape she was supposed to make, but otherwise couldn't get her hand to do what she wanted it to. She's 3 and 1/3 now and doesn't need the steadying anymore. I think that in this case her desire to write was really founded in a desire not to be left out.

Also, you might want to check out some of the Montessori activities, which teach but often in a covert kind of way (at the toddler stages). My daughter's penmanship improved drastically as they had her doing push-pins.

The boy on the far side of the table in the following youtube video appears to be doing the same type of push-pin. (Obviously this type of work would need to be supervised.)



Other Montessori activities my daughter has been doing include using cardboard alphabet letters to spell the words associated with a small set of pictures. For example, she might get a picture of a cow, a dog, a bird, and a frog, and spell out the words using the letters, matching the words with their pictures.

On the math side, she's been using manipulatives like the bead triangle, and unifix cubes.

Edit: I forgot to mention that we started with board games around that time. Candyland, Hi-Ho Cherry-o, things like that.

I would not worry about traditional type "teaching" materials, or give much thought to whether or not your ds learns to read via phonics or sight-memorizing or whatever at this stage. Chances are that if he's going to learn to read early, he's going to learn and he'll learn in whatever way he's going to learn, no matter how much you try to "help"

What I would do are things like this:

* read to him - read, read, read. Don't limit yourself to "early reader" books, picture books etc. Read to him about science, history, read the classics. He'll get a great basis for language development and vocabulary by listening to you read. If he has an insatiable desire to listen to you read (and you don't have 48+ hours free time per day available to read to him) have him listen to audiobooks.

* take him to cool places - museums, plays, out to eat ice cream, go for hikes, get out in nature, just anything. Talk to him about the things you see, hear, participate in etc.

* talk to him, and listen to him. Have conversations. Tell him about the things you love.

* let him create - it can be art/drawing/painting, it could be building blocks, it might be putting together things out of the recycling stash to make something new/cool/inventive/artsy.

* PBS/Nature/Discovery channel videos - if he likes them and is interested in them.

I also agree that apps can be a great learning tool - I don't have any specific recommendations for apps simply because the app revolution happened when my kids were a little older. Montessori activities are great too - our kids went through Montessori preschool so we didn't purposely do any at home, but you could most likely google and get some ideas.

Most importantly, enjoy whatever it is - the early years fly by way too quickly!

polarbear

I created material for my kids (I wrote them stories). Mainly because my daughter LOVED LOVED LOVED reading and at 3 she would read a kid's book once and then have it memorized. It was a little frustrating, lol (can't believe I just typed that - good grief - some people's problems ;p ). Anyway, I bought a bunch of coil bound and hard cover composition style books from the dollar store and printed stories in them for her. She would read them and illustrate them (I'd fill only half the page with text so she'd have room to draw above it).

The neat thing about creating the materials yourself is that they can be completely customized. You can use the right reading level for your child with the right content. I'd write stories for my daughter about her and her brother, about animals, and about things that our family had done or were going to do. It worked for us

Like CCN, I also wrote short 'early reader' stories for my DS when he was about 2.5-3. I made the stories about him, so he loved to read them. I drew simple pictures to give him context clues, and he loved to color them.

My DS loved pbs.org and starfall.com nearer to 3. My DD2 also adores my KindleFire and can play the games so easily since a finger tap is all you need. Her favorites right now are a puzzle app, a match-making app, and she's a mean Fruit Ninja, LOL. Interestingly, my DD has been talking in complete sentences since 15 months...but it was my "late-talking" DS who was reading at 2.

I always used the car travel time as an opportunity to learn. W e would drive down the road and I would just talk about everything we were doing and the process. For example: My son's favorite shape was an octagon, so we would look for stop signs. We would talk about how the traffic lights function; I always allowed him to use real money at the register and help identify groceries in the store on the list; we would paint with our feet and our fingers; and I would make up songs and rhymns. The most important thing is to enjoy having your child with you and nuture your child. And I agree with the other mom's READ!!

All of the above!
DS loved books from that age way above his reading level eg Faraway tree Enid Blyton and non-fiction books eg Usborne Beginner series on space, animals etc. early readers are boring even at 2 - DS loved Dr Suess and Pamela Allen books, reading the words he could (which quickly progressed). He loved stories too and learned a lot just from made up stories. He also loved documentaries (especially space ones). Magnets, circuits, taking apart his toys with a screwdriver and many other activities that others probably thought were nit appropriate for a 2 year old . Its an interesting journey!

thank you all for the great tips! A lot of ideas I can use!!!
I should had mentioned right away too that when it comes to reading, he has ZERO interest in me reading books to him Never has and my almost 4 year old either. Neither one of my boys seem to have the patience to listen / watch me read. So all DS2 learned about words is from the Leapfrog videos and from Word World and Super Why on PBS! lol ... He had me tell him the names and sounds of letters when he first started being interested in them (would bring me plastic Alphabet soup letters from Vtech that we have). Everything else he just picked up from around him. I'm still amazed he understands how reading works when he never had me or anyone read to him? He just "gets it" ... never had a book upside down, never tried to read backwards ... he just knows? He has a ton of book in his room and just likes to grab them and go through them but has no need for me to be involved. I did get couple audio books a little while ago so I'll see if maybe he's interested in those now!

Also ... we are a dual language household ... my husband and I speak Czech as our primary language and speak to both boys in Czech but also in English ... a lot of times I just use both languages to make sure they understand both. The 4 year old understands EVERYTHING I tell him in Czech, yet he chooses to answer me in English, with few exceptions ... I'm guessing he just goes with what's easier and can't differentiate much between the two just yet. With my 2-year old, I speak to him mainly in Czech for now so he gets the basic knowledge right from the start (it's a very tough language to learn unless you learn from birth). Yet, the words he's reading are all English and he understands what he's reading. So, I guess just TV exposure is enough for him to learn the language.

now, to get to my question ... given we are doing 2 languages, should I first let him learn to read English well and then add the second language? (there are extra letters and symbols to learn) ... or do I start mixing it in right away? I have a teenage stepson who never learned to read / write Czech though he understands everything and speaks pretty fluently too but he didn't live with us when he was little and wasn't interested when he moved in with us. I would really like to see both our little guys not only speak the 2nd language but also read and write. So, do I wait with that till later so their little brains don't get all fried??? lol ... my thinking is once the younger one who's interested in reading gets the full grasp of reading in English (in a few years), he'd be ready to learn the new alphabet and phonic rules for Czech without getting it too confused?

I'd love to go and "explore" with them both but they are such wild children! The older one has severe Sensory Processing Disorder and the younger one is just wild and crazy too and looks like he'll be getting OT for Sensory problems too though he doesn't have the concentration issues the older one has. The 2-year old's concentration problem is related to him either being interested or not where as the 4 year old seems focused on too many things at the same time. ... so any trip we take means me pushing them in a double stroller because if I let one of them out, I might as well pack it all up and go home! lol ... we do go out a lot, but I do have to have them restrained!

But I'm very much enjoying the ride right now! ... DS2 is being more and more involved with us every day (he used to be so withdrawn to the point of us seriously considering him being on the Autistic spectrum ... but now everything points out to him simply being interested in other things and not really paying any attention to us and stuff around him) and he now does the goofiest things that just make us laugh and wonder "where did that come from???"

sorry for making it so long ... I just don't have anyone else around to talk to about any of this

We're a dual language household too (Spanish/English), and in my opinion, I'd start introducing reading/writing in Czech now. I think the earlier the better. With us, I just make it clear to my son which is which (now we're going to read in Spanish, etc.)

I agree with the homemade book idea. I've made some materials for my son (he's almost 3) because it's hard to find things that fit the different levels he needs. He's also obsessed with plastic animals (dinosaur sets, insects, sea animals, etc), which he organizes different ways (carnivores/herbivores, who lives at the zoo/farm/museum/aquarium, etc). He enjoyed learning all the specific names (brachiosaurus, velociraptor, armadillo, aardvark, etc).

Every few months, scholastic offers a $1 sale on their pdf books. I found out about it originally from this thread (Big Scholastic sale on PDFs), then I signed up for their notices directly. My son especially enjoys their “Instant Habitat Dioramas.” With the dioramas, I print and cut them out ahead of time (instead of gluing the animals on the diorama I put them on popsicle sticks), and then we play pretend, sort of like a mini-theater. I talk about life cycles, food chains, habitats, seasons, etc. as we play. He also likes the “Lift and Learn Science Mini-Books and Manipulatives” which I put together, then he colors them.

Glad you posted. This is a great place.

Get him an IPad. There is an unlimited amount of educational apps for young children. Everything that you can possibly think of to help your young child learn. It is truly amazing. Good luck!