Starting to teach toddlers letters, numbers, reading...what's best?

[Napdamnyou]

Wish my mum was alive so I could ask her how she did it - she was brilliant at teaching little children to read! And I was an early reader myself and still love books. DS is 19 months, adores books and stories like most toddlers his age, but has suddenly started to get very interested in letters and numbers. I was/am surprised as I thought he was too babyish for it but he is really into it.

He counts to ten and knows the letters of his name,which we have on his bedroom door. He points to the same letters on notices and book covers and asks what they are so I make the sound for him and talk about it. Example: 'S' is for snake, it looks like a snake, it's a hissing sssss sound, (we make the sound together), it's also for sausages, sand, saucepan (words he knows although he can't say them properly yet). He also keeps returning to other letters not in his name and words that occur frequently in his books (look/Spot/Maisy/baby/peepo etc) and asking me to make the sound whilst pointing and touching the word with his finger, trying to say it.

But I have no idea what I'm doing really. We don't have any alphabet magnets or specific books, he's not very interested in drawing and painting yet so i dont think asking him to copy letters (as I remember doing as a small child) would work. He can't even talk yet, says about 20-30 words and animal sounds, although he does understand pretty much everything I say (eg. 'put teddy in the truck and push the truck down the slide')

What would you recommend? I don't want to start pushing him or doing PFB high pressure early training stuff, just let him enjoy and explore but if there is a way to do it well, and make it easy and exciting for him to follow up this big interest he has I would love to know about it. What do other people do?

Many thanks

we used letterland books. And starfall.com and poissonrouge.com. But I have to say we started a good year and a bit after you have! I think that getting a 19mo to draw/copy letters is very ambitious, but I don't know your DS. At 21mo my DC3 is still putting the potty on her head and saying hat, and holding the pencil like a spear, so I think we're a while off getting her reading and writing. I think we started around 33 months for the other two, and it was mainly the websites that did it.

keep doing what you're doing! he's not even 2 yet, so I am sure that if you just point things out in a playful way he'll pick it up if he is keen and that way inclined - which it sounds like he is.

my DD is nowhere near this at 3.6 - although she knows all sorts of other stuff! she just isn't interested. If she was, I would encourage her, but she isn't, so there doesn't seem much point.

DD1 is 3.

For counting we counted stairs, blocks, peas anything really. No pressure and learning through play is good so now we count marbles when we play and have a few orchard toy games that deal with counting.

Letters - try to teach them as pictures of sounds, I made the mistake of teaching DD1 letters and now I am teaching the sounds she does learn them but struggles with sounding out the first letter of words as A is A not Ay etc... Jolly phonics songs are good, we do find the letter that sounds like 'fff' for example using foam letters in the bath (they do numbers too).

They do not have pencil control until much older so don't even try to get him writing, do playdough and songs like Peter Pointer to exercise finger muscles until he is interested in drawing with chunky crayons. When he is bigger you can practise drawing letters in sand with sticks.

Thank you, I will look at those sites and Jolly Phonics. I use the sound of the letter, so (hissing sssss for S, not 'S', Tuh for T, Muh for M and so on as that intuitively felt the way to go...)

Back in sec got to see to DS....

You have got it right with S, but try not to put the Uh sound on the end of the letters M should be Mmmm not Muh, F FFF not Fuh etc (jolly phonics songs will show you).

This site good too for sounds on the songs and on the game section they have levels that you can work through.

At that age I wouldn't be doing anything more than you are already doing really.

DS is 2.8 and loves numbers and letters and things but is pretty much just guiding himself by his own enjoyment of things if that makes sense. he will point out letters and numbers on signs when we are out and about and we talk about everything but I don't do anything special with him.

Thank you, especially Zhen. iPad not flash enabled so will have a go on DH computer...

The tips about pronouncing phonics especially good because I can't remember how I was taught and would rather not do it all wrong and make it harder for him to learn when he starts pre school.

My 2.2 DS is also very interested in numbers and letters. I'm slightly worried (only slightly) as my mum bought him a kids computer for his 2nd birthday and he has now picked up all the letters from that but he has picked him the letter names rather than the phonics so not sure if that will confuse him when they start learning phonics. I learnt to read through phonics at school (late 1970s peter and jane books) and can remember all the letter sounds but i don't really want to try and teach him yet.

DS also loves foam bath letters, foam number mats, walking down the street he has to point out the numbers on all houses.