earliest education--all at once/one at a time?

[EthiopianFood]

I'm starting colors and counting to ten with my 13 month old. I've heard of many 18-24 month olds who knew these things, along with shapes, alphabet, etc. If you have experience doing this with this age range (I'm not actually looking for advice on if it's a good idea in the first place, I feel comfortable with my decision ;) ), do you feel it's better to introduce one topic at a time, then wait for mastery before moving on to the next topic? Or should I just incorporate many ideas on a daily basis (I simply point out these things as they come up in our day, "Look, your book is red! Red!" sort of thing) and she will sort the ideas out as she is ready? I just don't want to overload her with information... but I suppose EVERYTHING is a new learning experience for them at this age, and they manage it all just fine in the end, right? :lol:

 

Thanks!

[pageta]

I just went with daily experience. When my kids saw things and were interested, I elaborated. I think a lot of kids know the "drill" stuff because it is drilled into them by watching so much tv.

[Parrothead]

Incorporate as much as you feel your child can handle.

[RebeccaS]

I'm a huge talker. So, I was constantly talking to mine at that age as part of normal conversations. I covered all those ideas at once. I didn't concentrate on one aspect and leave out others until mastered. But, I should also say that I didn't set out to actually teach my kids those things at that young age. I was merely making conversation.

[tajott]

that's about what it looked like for me. I just talked to my kids and labeled things often. "No, not the blue cup, the red cup. yes, that red one. Thanks you for handling the red cup to me".

[Year Round Mom]

13mo is a good age to begin sign language, too, if you choose! Dc probably won't be able to say alot of understandable words yet, but can learn the signs! Maybe teach 2-3 at a time?

[Pamela H in Texas]

You might look up information about this topic online. There are videos that show how to do these types of things (formally but QUICKLY) with littles. The kids have a BALL doing it. They can do everything from learning preschool things like you mention, to learning how to read, do math, and learn bits of information (like Presidents, states, etc) even as a toddler. It only takes a few minutes per day but they learn it all quickly and easily. And they do learn them all at the same time.

 

Of course, you don't have to go to the extent of iahp.org's programs or whatever, but can do it to whatever feels comfortable to you.

[musicianmom]

colors and shapes -- we used Eric Carle's First Book of Colors and First Book of Shapes

 

numbers and letters -- we used Brainy Baby DVDs and Tasha Tudor books (1 is One and A is for Annabelle)

 

It worked, she learned it all before her 2nd birthday.

[Sugarfoot]

My 2-year-old knows a ton of stuff, and it's all been learned by talking.:) I have 2 olders to teach and 1 younger to care for, so I don't do anything formal with her. I did, however, buy the "2-year-old" books from A Beka for her. She just really wants the attention that she sees the others get for "school," so I bought her those. They're cute and gentle, and I figure it can't hurt her to get some more number, letter, color, etc. practice. I spend 5-10 minutes with them a couple of days a week. She loves them, but her knowledge really just comes from doing the things that others have said. We count stairs, name colors, point out letters, and read aloud a lot. She counts to about 18--I don't know why she stops there! Actually, I don't even know how she GETS to 18, since we only count that high going up the steps at piano. Oh, I guess that's probably where she learned it.:D

[bumbledeb]

I'd say incorporate as much of it as you want, short sessions several times a day, as long as baby is enjoying it. If you do it regularly, every day, you will be amazed how much they will learn, and all in a fun, relaxed way. My now 16 year old learned to read at that age, even though he couldn't speak distinctly. (He's no particular genius, it's just that I had the time to do it with him at the time. He's always been a voracious reader and has no memory of 'learning' to read.)

[myfunnybunch]

With the littlest ones, the most amazing learning occurs as we embed teaching into every day opportunities. It's the way we're wired to learn when we're little. Don't worry about things like mastery and teaching separate skills yet. :) I don't mean that you shouldn't spend time teaching. I do mean make it fun and approach your everyday activities with the skills in mind that you'd like her to learn and use her natural activities and interests to teach those skills in a way that's developmentally appopriate for her.

 

Do make sure you're providing an enriched environment, reading lots of books and playing games, lots of open-ended activities so that she's got the opportunity to experience the world with creativity, and talk, talk, talk. If you talk about colors she'll learn colors, if you count things as you play she'll learn numbers and counting, if you play letter games she'll learn letters.

 

FWIW, I'm an early interventionist, learning and little ones is something I've studied. Activity-based learning and embedding teaching into natural activities make the information more meaningful and allow creativity and exploration during the learning process.

 

She's going to enjoy her time with you. Have fun. :) I miss having little ones around to teach.

 

Cat

[WTMindy]

We just talked. Lots and lots. Every item we looked at, "Look at that red ball. Do you see the red ball?" From infancy we read tons of books and pointed out colors and shapes and letters, etc. My kids were both very verbal early and could identify many things. We also did letter flashcards. I'm not boasting at all because I think if a kid is ready, they are ready, but my dd could identify all the letters and their sounds by 18 months. It was just through repitition. She absolutely loved to do flashcards and letters. (She is almost 12 now and still a joy to teach. :-)) We had a world map down low on the wall and my dh taught them where all sorts of countries are.

 

We didn't know we were going to homeschool at that time, and so we really had no idea that we were actually beginning the homeschooling process. (And, actually probably forcing us to do it in some ways because she was reading at 3 and K public school would have been a waste for her.) The whole thing was so informal. Daddy would say, "Let's play the map game," and the kids would come over to the wall for maybe five minutes a day or something.

 

They are such sponges at that age. It is just AMAZING. Don't pressure, and don't feel frustrated if they are not getting something, but just keep talking about it, reading, playing, laughing, etc. The biggest thing that I think is helpful for a child to learn is how to sit still long enough to have books read to them. That is the one thing that I would EXPECT of my toddlers. Everything else is just gravy.

 

Have fun. I miss those early stages!!!!

[ElizabethB]

This article might give you some ideas (New Thoughts On Language Acquisition: Toddlers As Data Miners)

 

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080129215316.htm

 

It also has implications for foreign language learning (and learning in general, but directly applicable to foreign language learning.)

[Only me]

With my oldest I would spend a lot of time pointing things out as we went about our day. It's amazing how many things they can learn just on a trip to the store (colors, shapes, numbers, etc.). DD was a very early talker so she would just repeat everything I would say and had a big vocabulary at an early age. We also read a ton of books. She loved the Dr. Seuss books and picked up a lot of words from that. When she was a baby "Teach Your Baby to Read" was very popular so we used that for a while but even then it was very short lessons.

 

Another thing I did with all 3 of my kids is make up little felt shapes in different colors. They seemed to love holding them, matching them etc. We would also watch short educational videos (Sesame Street, Busy Town etc.) once or twice a day.

 

As long as your child isn't being pressured and seems to be enjoying it I don't think you can overdo it when it is just part of everyday life.

[Rosie_0801]

13mo is a good age to begin sign language, too, if you choose! Dc probably won't be able to say alot of understandable words yet, but can learn the signs! Maybe teach 2-3 at a time?

 

Yep. My littlie can sign quite a few things she can't say. Her colours are all signed at the moment, but unfortunately everything is either red or black! I don't limit my language to specific words when I talk to her and she's learning both languages, so I don't see why you can't throw shapes, colours and numbers at yours. They'll pick them up when they become useful enough to bother learning.

 

:)

Rosie

[Terabith]

Daily life. It's amazing what they can learn. But it's silly to compartmentalize. You point out colors. You count the ducks in the tub. You read books with animals and make noises. (I love, love, love Signing Time, by the way.) Do baby yoga. Sing lots and lots of little songs and bouncing rhymes and finger plays. Get some good alphabet books. (I'm a big fan of Alphabet of Animals by Wormell and Chicka Chicka Boom Boom.) Get some of those DK books that have lots of photos and name them.

 

Life is integrated. I mean, heck, being a toddler is the ultimate unit study!

 

But, on the other hand, while I'm a huge believer in talking a lot to kids, I think sometimes we go too much the other way. When my oldest was in speech therapy, the most important thing I learned (and was wonderful with my second, who was speaking in five word sentences by 11 months), is that frequently we talk too much. When there is too much verbal background noise, kids learning the language can't focus on anything. It can actually delay verbal and concept development. So I strive for a balance. On the one hand, I frequently used rich, normal, descriptive language. But I tried once or twice a day to have sort of "focused sessions," in which I conversed specifically with HER, and I used far fewer words then. "Look!" (point excitedly at red sippy cup). "Cup! Red cup! That's your cup. It's red. See?" (point out red sock) "Sock! Red sock." (point at cup and then sock and look very excited). "Red!" It feels stupid, like you are the narrator in a Dick and Jane book, but you can see dawning recognition so quickly. It's really nice when teaching vocabulary or concepts, or when they are really mad or upset. (Child screaming in car seat. "Mad! Catherine mad! Out! Want out! Catherine wants out! But no...... Mommy says no no. Not safe. Wait." ) When emotions short circuit the brain, can help gain some processing capacity.

Edited February 28, 2009 by Terabith
hit submit accidentally

[Lovedtodeath]

Sign language. My DS just started signing.

 

I vote for mastery with one new concept at a time.

 

DD learned almost all preschool concepts from LeapFrog, Barney and Blue's Clues. :lol:

[EthiopianFood]

Wow, I really appreciate everyone's responses! Many of you pointed out that you don't limit your vocabulary in general with your children, so why should you limit "educational" topics? This is such a good point, and so obvious when you stop think about it. LOL I have been doing baby signs as well, for those who mentioned it. I absolutely can't imagine how I would get through the day without them, unless I had a very early talker!

 

This age is just so amazing to me, it really is. I am blown away by how much dd understands. It really reminds me why I am choosing to homeschool (well, one of the reasons). Sending her off to have a complete stranger experience those ah-ha moments with her instead of myself seems so silly, you know?

[Reya]

Daily life. No TV. :-) Ask questions like, "Do you want the red cup or the blue one?" That sort of thing.