Is my charge advanced?

[Anonymous]

I'm just curious as I have no kids and this is my first nanny gig.

She is 2 and 2 months. She can name all of the colors, shapes And moods (I'm happy, I'm sad etc). She can pick out her clothes and dress herself, brush her own hair and she also speaks in (almost) complete sentences? If this IS advanced, I want to see about some pre-preschool classes to keep her interested? Is that a good idea at this age?

Thanks for your input

[Anonymous]

Why spoil a good thing? Three is a much better age to start a half day program.

Can she help you do baking or cooking activities? It's one of the best things for little (and big) children. And lots of fun to.

Daily walking outings are great opportunities for learning.

[Anonymous]

She sounds bright but not advanced. Just keep doing what your're doing. Has she started reading yet?

[Anonymous]

you're

[Anonymous]

Op here: thanks for your input so far! She is not reading - is that something I can work on at this age? If so how shod I go about it? I don't want to push her but she is very eager to learn new things or participate in new activities!

[Anonymous]

*should

[Anonymous]

Trying to make a 2.5 year old child read, would be a huge mistake.
How much outside are you doing?

[Anonymous]

Is this an only child? How often does she get to have a playmate?

[Anonymous]

Op here: we go out side everyday (weather permitting) and spend about 70% of our awake time outdoors. She has a sibling that is 11 months old an we also have a big variety of neighbor kids (and other playmates) that we get together with almost daily. I also should mention she is bilingual - her parents are from another country and I have taught her Almost all of her English.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op here: we go out side everyday (weather permitting) and spend about 70% of our awake time outdoors. She has a sibling that is 11 months old an we also have a big variety of neighbor kids (and other playmates) that we get together with almost daily. I also should mention she is bilingual - her parents are from another country and I have taught her Almost all of her English.

Sounds to me that you are doing an outstanding job. They are lucky to have you work with their children.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Trying to make a 2.5 year old child read, would be a huge mistake.
How much outside are you doing?

What a silly thing to say.

[Anonymous]

She sounds bright and engaged, but not especially unusual. Try working on the alphabet with her, spatial skills like puzzles, etc... Sounds like you're doing a great job already so don't worry so much about what else you should be doing - she sounds right on track. Keep her happy and engaged and stimulated and she'll thrive.

[Anonymous]

Op again, thank for your input and compliments 9:26 & 8:13 I try very hard, so that's very appreciated!

[Anonymous]

I took a child development clad in college (several years ago now) and the professor had done a lot of work with orphans in eastern Europe. One of the things he noticed was the kids who were ready to start reading were able to each the arm over their head and grab their ear. I don't know/remember what, if any, correlation there was, but he swore by that method of readiness. He said on average they were about 6 when that happened.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm just curious as I have no kids and this is my first nanny gig.

She is 2 and 2 months. She can name all of the colors, shapes And moods (I'm happy, I'm sad etc). She can pick out her clothes and dress herself, brush her own hair and she also speaks in (almost) complete sentences? If this IS advanced, I want to see about some pre-preschool classes to keep her interested? Is that a good idea at this age?

Thanks for your input

No, I have worked with several toddlers that were like this. Some just grow more with this type of stuff more quickly at first but in a few months might be at the same spot as someone who wasn't speaking in almost full sentences and so on. I would never push the preschool thing, I would just continue having her learn about stuff as you always have. If kids want to know more, they will ask more. Maybe try some other activities that you haven't been doing but I wouldn't put too much thought into it at this stage. It's best not to push learning on advanced kids, only make it so things are interesting for them and they don't get bored.