2 1/2 year old showing very little interest in numbers or letters

[Gangle]

Because he's too young, right?? Am trying to get him interested in numbers and the alphabet but he is usually not very interested. He can count to 12 and knows a few letters, I think, but doesn't seem very interested in learning more. We do things like count the stairs, count cars and he has loads of different books, puzzles, shape sorters etc that I try to do with him on a regular basis, all to no avail. He just gets up and walks off! I am fine with this but just wanted to check I am doing enough to encourage him as I read so many threads on here where 2 year olds know the entire alphabet and can count to 100! Not actually sure what else I could do anyway!

Perfectly normal.

My daughter started reading at 2 1/2 but my son was 4 before he could read more than a couple of words. Both perfectly normal. Both reading very well now.

Ease up a bit, he is a toddler and should be worrying about where his favourite car is, not how any he has.

If you force it you could well put him off completely.

Thanks Sorren, that's what I thought. I haven't been pushing it for fear of putting him off all together. Have had MIL from hell staying who made me feel I wasn't doing enough but just don't see what more I can do if he's not interested!

He's 2.5, leave him be.

it's ok!!!!

my 4.5 yo isn't particularly interested. seriously, don't worry about the other kids. just indulge him in what he IS interested in.

These years are the only years of their life when they aren't under any pressure. Let him enjoy that. No 2.5 year old needs to be able to read. As Russell Howard said, all 3 year olds care about is jumping and custard. As it should be.

leave him. he is fine

MN is s very large community and people will post if they think their child is doing well. Or if they think their child is struggling.
Most people are not going to post. 'My child is lovely and three and isn't interested in anything much exceptthomas the tank engine, ice cream and laughing when he farts.'
Yet that covers quite a lot of children

( and don't believe everything you read on here ...annonymity is a breeding ground for exageration)

I wouldn't worry too much I don't think the majority of 2 year olds know all their numbers and letters? Mine doesn't, not many dc i come across do, but the people who just start bragging "oh my 1 yr old dc reads newspapers" etc makes you wonder, but if they are not interested i wouldnt push it as we could put them off? I do a bit with mine, when he walks off or says no I just leave it. Once they get interested @ a slightly older age they will probably pick it up quick @ that time?

My 3 and half year old dd2 is genius. She can read 'cbeebies' and 'Tesco' and she can count to 100 '1,3,11,38's,4,9,100' -that's right, no? At last count she had half a million my little ponies

All children develop differently. By 2 dd1 could count up to about 20 I think and knew her alphabet, could read her own name and my name and small words like cat/dog etc. She is almost 7 now and no more advanced than her peers.

Good God, my two year old can count to 13 because that's how many stairs we have. She's brilliant at counting things but wouldn't know a number or letter if it hit her on the head, well except for anything she's gleaned from Numberjacks I suppose. She's a baby, never occured to me to start home schooling her.

OK my ds WAS a genius counting, writing etc at 2 also amazing artwork (filling whole sketchbooks !)I did not push him BUT he hated ALL schools dropped out was expelled! at 13.Now does his own thing.

The above showing we're all different and unless SEN yr DC will do everything when READY to [like walking and talking].

You're doing the right thing making sure he has access to letters/numbers/shapes if he wants them, but not pushing it. He'll do it when he's ready and it probably is sinking in on some level!

It's pointless trying to push numbers and letters on toddlers, in my opinion. It really doesn't mean they will learn any faster when they eventually get to school - more likely they will just be bored and fed up of it.

At two it's much more helpful if they are doing things that aren't so obviously education-focused but that are actually essential, like playing with blocks and lego (improving spatial and fine motor skills), scribbling with crayons, listening to stories (concentration, vocab) and so on. And that kind of thing feels much more like playing than being prompted to count everything or recognise letters.

When they are ready to read it will happen just as fast whether or not they have been able to recite the alphabet since the age of one....

Pagwatch posts an excellent point cos normally I would keep my DS2's "progress" quiet - he just turned two and has gone from saying the nowt to things like 'dinosaur', literally within a month, making me and Dad beam in praise.

OTOH, My friends son (age 21 months), and this is no word of a lie (I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen, and tested it, for myself) canstand in front of a car registration plate and recite it letter and number by letter and number!! Apparently it comes from him watching Countdown!!

yes my DS seemed very similar - when he's interested he will get quite into it but when he;s not there's just no point in trying to make him (which is as it should be, he's not even 3 1/2). The one thing we did do was get fridge magnets, and on weekend mornings we put some near where he sits for breakfast and we see if he can identify them and talk about them.
The one thing I am concerned about, and trying to remedy is his attention span. I was reading a book about preparing for school which has the minimum generally expected in each area it brought up the fact that children will be expected to start a task and concentrate on it for a set amount of time, which is something he can struggle with.

As someone with (much) older children, it saddens me slightly to see that parents feel they should be worrying about what a 2 yr old is learning!! 2, 3 year olds should be playing! That is how they learn.

Seriously in 10 years no-one will give a toss whether they could recognise a number 1 or 'read' whole words. What they need is time to play, time to experience the world, opportunities to interact with other toddlers and develop social abilities.

FWIW I have four children (now all older teens)
My DS1 could read words at 2, seemed very able, VERY articulate..talking in clear sentences by 18m.

DD2 on the other hand sat there and sucked a dummy (think Maggie in the Simpsons , didn't move didn't talk.. til she was nearly 3!

DS1 eventually turned out to be a delightful but totally average kid. DD2 has just gained 7A* and 4A at GCSE....

My other two went to extremes.. one is entering med school in 2 weeks time (very able) the other is in special school......!

Gangle..enjoy him, let him play and he'll learn when he needs to learn. There is no real advantage to learning to read early ( most European countries don't start til age 6 yet their attainment level is higher!) and he won't be 'behind' when he starts school:)

My dd did everything very early, and as she was my first I thought it was normal. Rolled over at 2 months, walking and running at 9 months, started talking at 6 months, full sentences at 18months and she never shuts up it freaked me out.

I imagined I had some kind of Stephen Hawkins genius on my hands. I fretted about whether a normal school would be able to cope with her vast intellect, and if I would be able to feed her hunger for knowledge.

Now she is 4 I realise that all those things were no indication of anything. She is a bright girl, but an ordinary primary school where she can use fingerpaints, play and laugh at her own farts is just fine.

Also I couldn't read or write properly until I was about 7, and I am ver ver clever

Exactly nemofish!! Lol