2 year old: alphabet/numbers

[Anonymous]

Hi OP,
The book Einstein Never Used Flashcards, written by two child development experts, includes simple "games" to truly test comprehension and different types of intelligence.

Your post reminded me of the book because the authors write a lot about children who memorize things from television. No matter what, your DD is obviously very bright - the book might help you understand a bit more.

[Anonymous]

I know this old, but I found this somewhat helpful to us right now. I have been doing a little bit of 'google' research and this thread came up. It seems we have been in the dark about this for the last year or so. DD began recognizing the alphabet, upper and lower, colors, a shapes literally overnight somewhere between 18 and 19 months. It seems this IS NOT TYPICAL.

Because, it came out of nowhere, we really did not think anything of it. She also started counting to 20 and speaking in long sentences around then. At 18 months I have recorded her saying, "after we go playground I want see dada."

Having just moved to DC and being a bit introverted I was not around many other kids. It wasn't until recently that DH and I started to notice that DD was different. So, we have been looking back at things a bit differently now.

She is just turned 2 now and has been fully PT'd for almost 6 months and speaks like an adult, using words like actually, eventually, cumbersome, synonym, supposedly, and aggregate. She hears a word once and infers its meaning from the context and then starts using it. She also has learned (self-taught herself) phonics and is starting to sound out words. I don't expect her to read anytime soon, but sometimes I wonder what she expects.

It seems like there are a lot of bright 2 year olds in DC. We are moving back to the midwest in a month, and I am curious if I will notice a difference.

[Anonymous]

Since OP's DD will now be around 4, I hope she sees this post and updates us on her daughter - if she continued to be advanced with speaking/reading/ etc. I'm curious!

[Anonymous]

My daughter just turned two. She's known the alphabet song and counted from 1-10 since she was about 18 months old. She can identify many of the letters and numbers in random order, but not all of them all the time. She can also "read" some of her books and occasional words on TV, which apparently I could do at that age. She knows all her animals and a lot of vehicles, but we're still working on colors. And she often speaks in full sentences of up to 5 words. According to her daycare and our Ped, she's advanced, so I'm assuming your son would be advanced too. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Definitely advanced and will likely stay that way from our own experience. Just follow DC's lead, don't push, look at Montessori for preschool but if your DC is very into creative play, then I'd skip Montessori for a good play-based school. These kids will push ahead on their own and push you to get them what they need - eg lots of library trips and read-alouds at higher levels earlier on. Books on CD are terrific for listening. Lots of art supplies, building toys like blocks, nature walks. Have fun. Look at some homeschooling sites for ideas but keep it hand's on.

[Anonymous]

DD knew the alphabet and could easily count to 20 at 18 months too. She was very verbal early on with a huge vocabularly and an amazing memory. I thought she would start reading early but it didn't click for her until she was 5. At six, she is reading but in the solid middle not the advanced groups. She is advanced in math but the auditory decoding process in reading was much more difficult for her than understanding and memorizing abstract symbols. It was very frustrating for her to learn since she was used to knowing something right away.

DS did not know the alphabet or numbers 1-10 until he was 3 and I was worried. He is starting to sound out simple words at age 3.5 now. He seemed to be able to make the jump from what the letters are to what sounds the letter make and how to put that together than DD did at his age.

[Anonymous]

My 2 year old is the same way, knows alphabet, numbers, colors, and shapes. I do not consider her gifted I just think she has a great memory. She gets it mostly from Sesame Street, Super Why, Dora, ipad apps. She is also very verbal and I am shocked sometimes at the sentences/thoughts she is able to piece together. I have started to challenge her more because I want her to retain it.