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What does your 3.2 year old know?

6 replies

pomegranate1975 · 08/06/2013 12:30

What does your 3.2 year old know?
My 3.2 year old knows his colours, shapes, he sings the alphabet and says 1-10 numbers but he cant read and write the alphabet and numbers at all.

Does your child know all the letters, numbers, by sight and know how to write them etc?
What age do they start picking up the alphabet and numbers by sight? When do they start learning how to count items?
I see so many 3 year old out there that is soooo smart but my son seems like the odd one out.

How would i know if he is dyslexic?

OP posts:
pomegranate1975 · 08/06/2013 12:32

He is very inattentive to anything dealing with sitting down and doing work. He gets side tracked very easy. The childcare, speech therapy and another teacher said he has super short attention span.
Are your children the same? or is this abnormal?

OP posts:
JeremyPiven · 08/06/2013 12:43

Mine could do all your list (he's now 3.6)
But couldn't do a jigsaw to save his life or colour between the lines. Whereas some of his peers were doing 50 piece ones and producing beautiful colouring and stick people.

They pick up different things at different rates and it depends what they're interested in. I wouldn't worry if I was you :)

teacherlikesapples · 08/06/2013 13:14

Hi pomegranate1975 - I have worked with mostly 3-4 year olds for the last 15 years or so.

In terms of literacy development- for children between 30-50 months we would expect that children would start giving meaning to their marks (so not necessarily 'writing' but say you gave him a paintbrush, he might start making some brush strokes then point & saw "it's a cat" (even if it doesn't look anything like one!) They might start identifying their own name, and recognising some of the letters from their name when they see it in other places.

There is such a wide range in terms of development with these skills & your son sounds like he is right on track. Honestly I wouldn't worry too much about the academic stuff right now.

The best way to support him would be helping him develop his independence with self help skills, giving him opportunity to develop social skills & confidence (taking turns, making friends, joining play)

Providing as many opportunities as you can for him to problem solve independently: Think of a task that he might find tricky- putting his own shoes on is an example for some kids. Stay nearby & talk him through it, even when he struggles and gets frustrated, help him to break the task down into small achievable steps.

Help him develop critical thinking skills and the ability to make mistakes & know that these are an important part of learning. Let him know the most important thing is to always try & to keep trying- even when it is hard.

Give him the opportunity to be creative- make messes, experiment with textures, tools & techniques. Thinking about the process & what he is experiencing rather than what the end product looks like.

Make up silly verses to familiar songs that you know. Have fun with language, rhymes and jokes. Visit the library as often as you can- get excited about books & the wealth of information you can get from them.

If you focus on developing & supporting his learning dispositions (attitude to learning) then the academic stuff will come quickly & naturally, and if there is ever something that he ever finds difficult you will both be in a really strong place to fix it.

Nagoo · 08/06/2013 13:19

my ds couldn't do letters reliably until reception, but dd is starting to recognise letters and try to 'read' street signs at 2.5. I think some DC are interested and some aren't.

ItsAllTLAsToMe · 08/06/2013 13:25

Excellent post teacher, thank you Smile.

MsInterpret · 08/06/2013 13:31

Great advice from teacherlikesapples

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