People whose kids can recite the alphabet before age 2

[newmum234]

And counting from 1-20 too - do you actually do regular sessions teaching your DC how to do this? My DS is 15 months and only says mama and dada. There’s no way he’s even close to learning the alphabet or saying numbers!

@Malteser71

I’m a speech therapist.

It’s meaningless, rote learned stuff.

My sisters child recites the alphabet, counts to ten and closes rhymes. He has no meaningful language at all.

This. I work in a pre school. Saying the alphabet or counting for most children of this age is meaningless. They might as well be saying baa baa black sheep.

How can learning that A sounds ae, B sounds bee and C sounds see
when they are then taught that A sounds aaa, B sounds Bu and C sounds Cu when they do reading sounds.

My oldest had a speech delay and didn’t know the alphabet going into reception. By the end of year 2 he had read all of the Harry Potter books. My nephew could read fluently at three. At 10 you really can’t tell the difference. They are both great readers and exceeding expectations.

Gosh, it has never occurred to me to even consider any of this at such a young age.

@Bitofachinwag

There's nothing particularly clever about knowing the alphabet. It's just like memorising a nursery rhyme.

This If they don't have a clue what the letters actually mean then its meaningless. Same with recognising numbers. Its no more clever that recognising a cow or a dog, if they have no concept of what that number represents.

Mine didn't really say anything till 2.5, didn't say mama/mummy until closer to three. Could undo shoe laces by 1 but no one ever checks on those sort of skills.

I'd just carry on as you're done with lots of talking, reading and most importantly fun stuff and he'll get there. He's only little.

My 2 year old didn't have any words at that age and she is quite chatty now. She didn't say mummy (or anything like it) until she was about 20 months. It never occurred to me that a 15 mo should have any discernable words. Reciting the alphabet at that age seems beyond ridiculous and is a fairly useless party trick anyway.

My advice would be to stop comparing your child to others. If you're really worried about development (it doesn't sound like it) then ask the HV or GP. I'm sure they'll put your mind at rest.

Mine are 2 and 3. They can both say whole alphabet. Older one can count to teeny, younger one to about 12. They do get screen time and have watched a lot of number and letter songs. We also count stairs a lot, count things in general, and sing the alphabet song quite a bit. I do think songs help!

DD is 20 months and is getting good at counting. We have always counted the stairs as we go up and down, or bits of food. Just work it in to your day. We have recently been playing with foam letters in the bath so she's starting to recognise some of them, but calls them "apple, banana, cat..." instead of "a,b,c" lol

2 is very young and totally not the 'norm' to know this stuff by two.

We incorporated numbers into everyday life, counting steps etc. When we used to go food shopping my DD used to ask what the symbols meant (aisle numbers) and I'd tell her. She also wanted to know what the sign said and what letters were in the word on the sign.

We had a phonics game where she'd press the button and it would say the name of the letter and the phonic sound and that's how she learnt her letters. If we were given a number for food collection when eating a meal, then we'd say what the number was it she'd ask what the number was.

Knew all letter sounds and recognised them by two, was sounding out CVC words by 3 and could write dimple words, could recognise and count to 100 by 3. All out of her having a thirst for that knowledge. I never pushed or made her do it. The nursery teacher had me pegged as a pushy Mum.

Since found out she has an IQ of 120, autistic and will be going to a special school for secondary education because mainstream is too much for her. But, I'd rather she went to a special school and got 5 good GCSE's than went to mainstream and got none. She has the potential to get 10 GCSE's but there would be a huge cost to her mental health so we're putting her mental health above everything else.

My ds didn’t talk until he was 2 1/2.

He’s got a degree and 2 MA’s

I wouldn’t worry.

We had books that I would read with my DC. DS1 loved them and was able to recite a lot of stuff by 2. He also learned to read very early and quickly. DS2 had absolutely no interest in books until later, refused to recite anything and even now at 6 is not as confident a reader as his brother was at that age.

In short, every kid is different and responds to different methods of learning.

Whether they can do these things or not is of absolutely no consequence, so I would not spend any time or energy on it! They're not developmentally able to do things like read or maths sums at 2 so knowing the numbers/letters doesn't really matter.

Useful things to focus on at this age are processing feelings and basic safety awareness e.g. stop/hot/ouch, following instructions (being aware they have little to no impulse control!) and just generally attachment/relationship and talking.

Reciting the alphabet is no more meaningful then singing nursery rhymes. It won't help them read. Stop worrying and comparing.

Only knowing a couple of words at 15months isn’t an indication of anything at all. It’s well within the normal range. The NCT advise parents to start to their gp or visitor if their baby isn’t babbling by 15 months or they don’t use any words at all by 18months. www.nct.org.uk/baby-toddler/learning-talk-and-communication-your-baby/baby-talk-speech-development-12-18-months

At 15 months my niece had about 25 words, half being various animal sounds. Now at 3&3/4 she successfully counts to 10 90% of the time, then rapidly gets mixed up, highest I have heard her count before getting mixed up was 13. She can recognise the first letter of her name only, and the numbers 1 & 2. I worked at a nursery many years ago and there was a boy who could read (all the picture books they had, and signs, magazines, sign-sheet etc) at younger than her 🤔 But obviously that's super unusual.

There’s a big difference between being able to recite something and actually understanding it. Earlier doesn’t mean better either, it’s perfectly fine for kids to be picking this stuff up between 3-5, learning it at 2 doesn’t automatically mean the child will be better at it later.

DS1 is 3.5 yrs and suddenly phonics and numbers have started clicking in a cascade and it’s clear he really understands it too. He’s all of a sudden “caught up” with some other friends kids who could do it earlier and they seem to be on the same level now.

My friend actually got told off by her son’s nursery for being cocky about his abilities because he could count to 100 at just turned 3, but was lacking in his emotional development and gross motor skills like dressing himself, toilet training etc. So there’s definitely more to the toddler years than the alphabet.

I agree about just reading and talking lots and peppering opportunities to count etc through the day and kids will pick it up without needing drilling by rote.

As an early years professional, I often get parents telling me that their child can count to 10 and how proud they are. What the parent actually means is that their child has learnt The numbers 1-10 by rote and have no understanding of the words they are saying. If a child has no concept of number and how many there are of something, knowing the number names isn’t really worth a lot. Same as the alphabet. Just because a child can sing a,b,c,d etc won’t help them to learn to read if they have no understanding of what the letters are.

Far more helpful to read books, talk about what’s in the pictures, what might happen next, which is their favourite page in the book and why, who is their favourite character etc.

And as they get nearer to school age, remember that school readiness has nothing at all to do with being able to read or do sums and everything to do with being able to take turns, know how to handle a book, toilet and wash hands independently, put on their own shoes, coat and jumper and feed themselves/manage their own packed lunch. Counting by rote and singing the alphabet doesn’t come in to it at all.

Thanks @FizzingWhizzbee123 and @Maryann1975 - found your replies very helpful x

My dd learnt the alphabet song very young, from me singing it. I didn't sing it to her to teach her the alphabet but she loved singing together and it was a song I knew the words to!
It was one of her favourite songs for a while, and she was very articulate for her age.
However, after knowing the song for a while she started asking us a confusing question. Took me a while to figure out what she was on about.
It was why "Ella Mella had an accident"....

Eventually we twigged.

"Ella Mella Peed" 😂

So, I wouldn't read too much into a child being able to "recite the alphabet". It doesn't mean they get the concept of letters, or understand what it is they are saying!

My 2yo (nearly 3) knows quite a few letters thanks to his older sister (5) teaching him. She didn't beyond quite enjoying alphablocks until nursery and school. Not held her back at all.

Fantastic reply by @Maryann1975.

BIL's DS was not saying a single word at 18months, absolutely reduced to talk. By 2yrs, he was talking full sentences and now at 2.5, literally does not shut up! As PP have said, not talking in isolation is no concern if they understand what you are telling them and can communicate with you in other ways (nephew would take us by the hand and show us what he wanted)

DD knew how to count all numbers to 20 and could read them by 2, however she did not understand the concept at that age so it was meaningless. If you had shown her 4 apples, she would not have understood why that was 4 until a bit older.

Talk loads to your child about absolutely everything, describe it all when you are out, the colours, the sounds, how many there are, happy, sad etc. That will develop their vocabulary. When reading books, take time to enjoy the book, look at the pictures, understand what is happening, make faces based on feelings, guess what might happen next (this bit when little older). Don't worry about finishing the book. Work on gross motor skills and fine motor skills as they get older, playdough, threading, scissors (closer to 2 for scissors), allow them to climb at the park and build strength in arms and legs. Lots of singing and dancing.
Those are the things that will help them at this age. Saying the alphabet and numbers without understanding why doesnt mean much

@Bitofachinwag

There's nothing particularly clever about knowing the alphabet. It's just like memorising a nursery rhyme.

Yes! It's just a catchy song and the ability to recite something isn't particularly impressive

With DD I haven't actively taught her anything but she has number and letter books, puzzles etc and we count things just naturally in the day and have started talking about letter sounds. She thinks everything starts with a W sound 🤷 they do it in their own time and by primary school it won't make any difference who was talking or singing the alphabet first.

@newmum234

And counting from 1-20 too - do you actually do regular sessions teaching your DC how to do this? My DS is 15 months and only says mama and dada. There’s no way he’s even close to learning the alphabet or saying numbers!

I work in a nursery and can share some early years curriculum stuff with you if you like?

Reciting numbers to 20 is a sign of verbal communication and is the same as a child singing a nursery rhyme. The sign of a child who is a maths savant is mathematical application eg understanding things still exist even when covered / taken away, a good memory (eg remembering where things are / should be), doing puzzles, sharing sweets / toys broadly equally.

@Kanaloa

As long as you’re talking, singing, playing, it really does not matter a jot. If you go into the local high school you won’t be able to tell that Jordan recited the alphabet at 7 months old while Amy didn’t count to 10 until she was 6. To be honest, having worked with children for years, a child who can recite the alphabet or count confidently before two is unusual. Even those who can usually don’t have any meaningful understanding of what they’re saying (eg that numbers can signify an amount of objects, or that letters correspond to a sound we can hear.)

The most important thing at a young age is a happy and confident baby.

Absolutely right!