19mo recognises and hands me letters - am I being pfb?

[ATouchOfStuffing]

My DD has been passing me letters and articulating them for about a month now. I am confident she knows A -she calls it the phonic A and that apple is associated with it as well, C is cat and O is phonically said as well as drawn as it is the first letter of her name, M is mummy (she hands me the foam letters in the shower while saying these btw) and T is train. Her words aren't the clearest but I know they are the right ones.

I don't want to be a pushy parent but it does feel as if she has an interest in learning them, so we go through them together and I say 'that is H for Hat' for example. She also correctly points out blue, purple, yellow, green, red, brown and orange and counts up to 3 objects/steps as she is going up.

I am wondering if this is normal as none of her friends seem to be able to do it but then their over all language is clearer.

Gimme a slap if I am being silly, feel a bit like I am trying to show off but really not sure if this is just normal progress.

[ATouchOfStuffing]

Thinking on it some more she knows B, X and K too...

[BeribbonedGibbon]

We've all had amazingly gifted toddlers my advice is let them be little. And not care, or want them to 'learn', just play and let them still lick play dough because they want to. Life is too short and being that young and carefree is a mere glimpse of life. Let it be fun :-)

[SavoyCabbage]

I'm not giving you a slap but perhaps her little friends can't do any of it as nobody has ever told them their letters. I know I didn't with my girls and my eldest (9) is a year and a half ahead in literacy now. I didn't teach her a thing before she went to school, despite being a teacher.

[Bearandcub]

Yes, you are being PFB. You are also being a lovingly proud parent of your child's abilities and talents. Do not let this become a competition or comparison thing and spoil that.

Note down how she's doing in your baby book or in a journal, beam with pride then do something completely different.

[Bibs123]

I have an 18 month old. She is bright as a button and into everything... have i ever shown her a letter? Erm nooo... because she is 18 months old and much prefers running around at the park, playing with her toys, exploring and being 18 months old.... there will be plenty of time to learn at school and until then I will not be forcing her to learn letters...

[ATouchOfStuffing]

Thanks guys. Sorry for being a bit OTT. I haven't forced her to do any of this but she genuinely seems to be curious. Will just keep it to myself and jot it down as suggested :) Her friends can do things she can't, as I said, so I didn't mean to be competitive. :)

[ChazDingle]

She sounds exactly like my DS at that age with letters and numbers. I never really set out to teach him but we had a few toys with letters and numbers on them (as alot of preschool toys tend to be) and he just sort of picked them up and given a choice those would be the sort of toys he would pick to play with. He's is 2.11 now and he knows the alphabet upper and lower case, the phonic names (which i didn't even tell him as i don't know them!), can count in excess of 300 and knows numbers written down in excess of 100. He's also started recognising a few words without me setting out to teach him.

He's loves the cbeebies programmes like numberjacks, alphablocks, numtums etc so i think he's picked up quite alot from these. He's also just got into team umizoomi on nick junior.

However he is totally impractical and way behind in some aspects for his age, although i think he could actually do more if he made the effort! He won't try and dress himself, undressing he will just about take off a vest and socks but won't try anything else. He's also not potty trained yet although i think 2.11 isn't that late for a boy. He can't pedal a bike yet and still struggles with a scooter.

I don't really tell anyone what DS can do as i'm not really a show off type and i hate being centre of attention. People sometimes hear him count or spell a word and a few close friends have picked up he's quite advanced with his letters and numbers.

I'm sure people think i must be hot housing him but he's not the sort of child you can teach things to if he doesn't want to do something- otherwise he would be dressing and undressing himself!!

Also don't want to panic you but DS pre school have mentioned possible autism/ aspergers, i'm 90% sure theres nothing wrong and haven't taken it any further as of yet but am keeping an eye on him

[ChunkyPickle]

Kids have obsessions, and yours is letters and numbers - yes, she's doing really, really well on them, you should be proud, but don't worry about heading off to gifted classes yet :)

[Alwayscheerful]

I am not at all surprised at 2 my granddaughter could recognise every receipt in my handbag and every plastic bag, personally I think Mummy does too much shopping, because I pass a receipt and she says yats from Next, yats from Asda or yats from joules....and she never gets them wrong, make learning fun and they will do it all day.

[Machli]

I never "taught" at that age but I did read books that had shapes, numbers and letters as an integral part of the story. They knew these things pretty early on and went to school already confident with them. I do not think there is any harm in it. It's just exposing them to it without forcing it.

[sjupes]

I thought you meant the post

When my dd was 17 months she knew over 360 words to say clearly, could count to twenty and knew a sucession of colours.

She is now 8 and whilst she still chatters on a lot, is good at maths and art she is not 'g&t' or any other random words - she learnt some things very early then tailed off like many many children do.

I hate to say it but yes, pfb

[Nishky]

we've all had amazingly gifted toddlers

So so true- especially our pfb. By the time my second came around I was more relaxed

[Goldmandra]

She knows what the letters are called because you have taught her their names. Other children learn the names of dinosaurs, tv characters, animals, shapes, etc. It is just a list of objects she can name.

If she asks you to name others go ahead and do the same with numbers and shapes but throw just as much, if not more, enthusiasm into the names of flowers, animals, transport, food, etc and teach her to ask and be interested. In what, it doesn't matter. All she needs right now is to be motivated to learn and explore.

Forget academics, just work out what she's interested in and follow her, giving her new things to learn about and explore whenever that seems appropriate.

[thegreylady]

My dd [now 38!] started reading aloud at 18 months-proper words without pictures.She could read Topsy and Tim books at 2 and a half and read Five Children and It at 5 and The Railway Children at 6.
However by 11 most of her classmates were reading well though less avidly.She did well at GCSE but not all A's similarly at 'A' level and University-she was a clever but not brilliant student.
She is now a successful teacher and a wonderful mother.
Her early reading was great fun for both of us but ultimately of no real significance.It was her brother [4.4 years older] who first taught her letters and sounds using their matching alphabet pj's.
I remember her sitting on dh's lap when she was 15 months and pointing out the first letter of her name in his newspaper.
I too could read before two.
Oddly ds was 4 before he could read and my dgc have been between 3 and 5.

[10oclocknews]

Sorry but not 'up there' with the abbrieviations....what does pfb mean??

[ChazDingle]

precious first born

[blueberryupsidedown]

She knows her letter sounds because you have shown her. DS knew most of the Thomas characters at that age, because he was interested in Thomas. Really, sometimes....

[SuedeEffectPochette]

I was a "gifted" child and have four children myself so I feel a bit qualified to comment. Three of my children respond reasonably well to teaching (by their teachers) and do ok. One child taught herself letters aged 2 just by asking me all the time (I did not initiate). I think she is like me. Some kids just like to learn and they are the ones who we might call these days "gifted" I think, but perhaps "keen learners" might be a better description.

[ZenNudist]

My friends dd was singing her abcs and knew all her numbers by about 18m. I figured it was cos she had an older sister. It's great you're teaching her. Do t be too pushy tho. She will either get it naturally or push back when the terrible twos kick in.

[Kendodd]

I thought you meant letters in the post, sorts them, who each one's for, and hands them to you. That would be talented!

[Strikeuptheband]

I have a 6 year old who was recognising letters and numbers (without any particular prompting - he had a wooden jigsaw and like your DD he just kept on asking). He was reading properly (phonetically) by 3, very good with numbers, very good recall of facts - like his dad was in fact.
Now at 6 he is still a couple of stages ahead of the top reading group, but has to work with them for guided reading anyway. He is clever but he also really doesn't like being made to do stuff, he moans on about it. He also has other issues socially. So I would say that it can sometimes be a 'poison chalice' really. He complains of being bored and things being too easy, but doesn't really want to do lots of 'hard work' as he's just turned 6.
It's lovely when they are little but often children who are that focused have their own set of problems. So yes, encourage it if she wants it but no rush - focus on skills that are not taught at school instead if possible.

[10oclocknews]

I second that Strike. My son is 5 and is very bright. Always has been advanced intelectually and has had a very wide vocabulary since talking. He is always interested in learning and asks questions constantly which I think is why he is ahead. However, it is always on his terms....He will not be pushed. As soon as you try to he digs his heels in. He is now in Reception and the teachers are trying to challenge him, but he is aware that he is doing different work to his peers and complains about it. I'm offering encouragement and he is slowly accepting the situation and is happier about it, but a childs personalitly plays a big part in how they will do rather than just their natural ability. All I do is encourage him and praise him for doing his best. I also think its good for children not to be the best at some things and to fail occasionally. It helps them to accept that others are sometimes better at some things too. Also if you always find things easy then how would you learn determination???

Continue just having fun with her but let her lead the play. That way it will be on her terms......Leave the strucured teaching for when they start school.....Once the go there they grow up sooooooooooo fast!!!! x

[AngelDog]

DS1 knew all his letters by 18 months. He had a set of foam bath letters he liked to play with. Starting from around 15 months he'd hold them up and make his 'eh' noise which meant, "What's this?" I'd say, "That's an A; it says a," just like I'd say, "That's a cow; it says moo."

I never set out to teach him. but he is pretty 'academic' and interested in letters. He taught himself to read properly at 2.9 y.o.

I would follow her lead in things she's interested in, not worry about 'teaching' and encourage a wide range of interests.