DS 2.5 counting to 50

[calmandcollected101]

My DS 2.5 counts to 50, constantly, singing it, chanting it, counting on his fingers and is obsessed with numbers whenever he sees them out and about.

He is constantly singing the phonics but then goes back to numbers.

Does anyone else's 2.5 year old do this?

My son was like that too - always counting, playing counting games, spotting numbers everywhere! He's now 4 and still really into numbers, although since starting school he's become a bit more interested in reading and writing too.

Orchard toys have some good number/counting games, my son loves them.

About that age DD was obsessed with me writing numbers on a blackboard for her to identify. Fast forward and she has a modest maths GCSE result and a diagnosis of autistic traits.

Yes, often correlated with autism, and my son is autistic. He is more into the alphabet and his literacy skills are insane. Hyperlexia and strong visual decoding skills nearly always coincide with autism. My son is a bright boy, but socially and emotionally delayed. Try and understand it and see the strengths of it. Use those interests to help him learn other things too.

Mine did this too. He's now 5 and still obsessed with maths and numbers. No evidence at the moment that he's ND but I am keeping an open mind. I was very similar as a child though.

My older daughter was very good with numbers very young. Learnt to read at three. Finds school very easy and needs more challenge than thay can give her. She isn't diagnosed but shows a lot of signs of autism and doesn't fit in with her peers. She doesn't get bothered by it though and is incredibly able in other ways. She is thriving at the moment but I worry about the future.

My eldest was the same at that age. Then in school Got 100% in maths tests without even studying. Set 1 in high school. Not really interested in maths now though.

My DS could count to 120 at 2.5, knew his alphabet, phonics, shapes, colours and how to spell his name. At almost 3 he can do basic sums, 3+3 is 6 etc.

He’s not emotionally or socially delayed, just has an interest in learning. It’s not always autism imo. I’ve no concerns and he seen a paediatric consultant (due to issues with his leg muscles) and she hadn’t any concerns with him either; just said he was bright.

Mine was the same. Now age 5 he's obsessed with 'math quizzes' and regularly wants to be asked questions in the car etc.

Yep. Two of mine were similar. They LOVED counting and anything to do with numbers. They are four now and know all their tables - they learned them by playing with duplo and making rectangles of different sizes. Square and cube numbers are their favourites. Buggered if I can get them to appply themselves to getting dressed in the morning though, or writing their names!

In my experience children of this age are very prone to bring focussed on their favourite things. It's handy if these happen to overlap with academic things! There's time for them to be more well rounded once they are at school as long as it's not the ONLY thing they do.

That's great!
You're right it's finding the balance and encouraging other things for their development and play

What is duplo? And did you teach them square numbers/times tables etc?

I can't even remember what a square number is from school

Yes and he was reading at 3, he's in reception now and waiting for an autism assessment.
I am trying to spend some time following his interests, but also making sure he gets enough time to focus on things that are important but he's less interested in.
I know stem subjects are important but it's hard to know how far to go with getting them ahead.
As a side note, counting high is just a memory thing like learning the alphabet - the real value comes in the relationships between numbers eg number bonds and arithmetic in general. Once they can count to 20 or 30 it's good to play with adding counters or pompoms and counting the total, etc