22 mo, what to do to help him please!

[sillymillyb]

I am hoping people can help me as I am a bit out my depth - I didn't know where to post, I'm not suggestion DS is gifted by posting this, I'm genuinely a bit confuddled as to what to do next!

DS is 22mo and loves numbers / patterns etc. I haven't done any thing to help him so far but feel I should be doing something, I just haven't the foggiest what!

He can count items up to about 30, and can recognise and identify the number independently out of sequence. He can count out items and if you took 1/2/3 items away would be able to tell you what that was at the (have 5 items, take 2 away he would say "uh oh, 3 now" for example)

He can recite his alphabet, recognise each letter out of sequence, and list words it stands for - D is for Dog, dadda, donkey etc. He can also recognise his name which he pretends to write. He also likes to draw what he thinks are shapes, and knows his colours.....

I have no idea how he knows the above, because apart from reading to him or counting things out (ooh you have 3 grapes you lucky thing etc) I haven't done anything - it is all his own interests (I feel paranoid in case people think we sit at home doing nothing but stare at flash cards!)

So, what do I do next? I feel like I should be helping develop this but he is my first child and I was expecting him to be at school and there fore led by a teacher to do the next steps!

Any advice would be really welcome - thank you :)

First - congratulations, you seem to have a bright kid
Second - relax - whatever you are doing is working as it is!
Keep reading to him, take him to museums, and parks, anywhere, really and keep talking to him - the more he understands how the world works, the better. And if he likes numbers - keep doing what you do - count things, point out numbers around you - bus numbers, house numbers, measurments, temperature, show him coins and get him to help you count, etc. At this age he doesn't need formal education - observations and games are best for stimulating your little genius!

Than you for the reply! It was very reassuring. I didn't really know if I should have been doing something specific as he is so interested in developing it (well, you know what I mean!)

It seems crazy just how much they absorb from every day life. My poor brain is lucky to retain what day it is in comparison

One general thing you can keep in mind is that you can adjust the way you talk to him to his level of understanding. (I'm sure you already do this to some extent!) So for instance you can point out the magpie in the garden rather than just the bird, as you might to most ~2 year olds, and remark on its size and colouring compared to other birds.
When reading, again you might already, take time to pause and discuss what you see on the pictures, what might happen next, what the characters may be feeling, what your DS might feel in that situation.
And if you don't already, you could branch out to non-fiction books.
Does he do jigsaw puzzles?

Ahh that is really interesting about changing the way I talk to him - I have started today just giving him more detail on things and it has already been incredible what he retains. Thank you so much for that sugestion!

Book wise I already did that to some extent but have been making much more of an effort and he seems really interested (well, until he takes the book off me to get to the bit he wants!) we make up stories too and he loves rhyming stuff to finish my sentances.

He has only just started doing jigsaws really, but he is enjoying them and seems to have got the method for working them out. I need to buy some more I think!

I think I'm just a bit lost as to the direction I should be pointing him in. My sister in law is a teacher and I asked her and she said I should be introducing him to shapes and colours, but he knows those. He is obviously bright, so i don't want to hold him back (or push him either)

Thank you both for your replies, you have both helped and reassured me :)

As long as you don't make him do things over and over again, but let him choose his own activities and follow his own interests, how could you be holding him back?
Provide him with toys and books appropriate to his 'stage' rather than his 'age'. And let him play with his choice!

You might find that there is a disparity between what he understands mentally, what he can do physically (pen control and such) and what he can cope with emotionally. This can cause frustration. If you want to do something to 'not hold him back', maybe just remember to also offer him activities to develop his physical abilities/opportunities to develop socially and emotionally.

Ahh chance of making him do anything he didn't want to would be a fine thing so I think I'm safe on that front..... he is, er, strong willed to say the least

Thank you for your help - it's been really useful to see that actually, I'm not totally messing up by letting him lead this. I will carry on just exposing him to life and letting him expand his interests - on that note though, I think reading will prob be next for him, he seems desperate to spell out words (saying the letters and making guesses, creating basic stories) My mum has said my brother was the same at this age but it obviously skipped me!