What to do with a bright toddler?

**mumma bear** · 07-07-2006 10:49

My DD is very bright for her age, almost 2.

She has an excellent vocabulary, can count to 10, recognises all colours and shapes, can say most of the alphabet (the song) and recognise the letters, is toilet trained, is very imaginative, remembers stories and nursery rhymes (word for word) and has an advanced grasp of new concepts. My child health nurse advised she was at a 3yo level when she was 18 months old.

My issue is what do i do with her? We chat and play and also go on outings, went to the Zoo this week, but sometimes she seems very borred!

Any suggestions on what activities might stimulate her would be good.

**babyboo** · 07-07-2006 13:09

hey were are in this boat.

DD will be 3 in august and ever since she went to daycare at 2 ive have been told sooo many time how advanced and bright she is and how amazing her vocabulary is.

I am still told now how clever she is and how well she talks, etc. I also have the problem where she gets bored and requires alot of extra attention. Ive just bought some pc educational programs, reading cards, etc to help her along on her way.

Im not sure what else to do - she wants to read books, but "doesnt know the words", as she tells me. Does anyone know of any really good books that i can get for her,etc. She also has an impecible memory, which totally amazes me (wish mine was as good

)

I am thinking of enrolling her into preschool (instead of daycare which she is in now 3 days a week) so she gets the mental stimulations she needs. But dont really know where to start and have been told that as she was born in August she would have to wait till next year????

**mumma bear** · 07-07-2006 14:26

Babyboo i have found the Spot books are quite good as a starter for reading. The words are large and not difficult.

You might need to investigate a non gov school like montessori for your little one as they start earlier, montessori at 3y. We put DD's name down for when she turns 3. Otherwise gov schools have changed their entry and anyone after 30 June starts the following year.

Thanks for your suggestions so far!

**babyboo** · 08-07-2006 09:02

mumma bear - thanks for that tip. Is there a website or something for Montessori that i can check out?????

**suemp** · 08-07-2006 20:05

dont want to burst your bubble but i will tell you of my experience. i too was advanced for my age was reading proper books before school, doing maths etc... could of been the fact that my brother was 5 years older and i loved to know wat he knew. anyway than i entered kindergaton (nsw) and found wat they were doing extremely babyish (in my opinion) lessons and thought i was above wat they were doing so i refused to do anything. for the first month i refused to do anything but sit on the floor (wat a brat) so my mother came in to the classroom and made me join in (i still remember the embarassment) anyway straight away i was "upgraded" to a special class we had at school for advanced students. anyway my point being everyone pretty much caught up. while i was by no means in the bottom classes in high school i was not studying 4 unit maths or anything iykwim. than of course other interests came in , namely partying etc and i ended up with a 50/100 for my hsc (so nothing spectacular) and as you can see from my posts im not exactly articulate with my words...just thought id give you my storey...yours maybe completely different

**mumma bear** · 14-07-2006 15:44

Babyboo - You need to find your state assn. Web site for Vic is http://www.montessori.asn.au/schools/schools.htm
They will be able to tell you what schools are in your area. They are really good and will let you come to an open day or set up a time to view a class in action. Go with an open mind as they are really different to traditional schools.
A google search will help you with other info.

suemp - i take your point. I was similar too. I can remember on my first day of school being asked to write a story. I could write but none of my class mates could so i just scribbled like them. I brought myself back to their level so i didn't stand out. I had a wonderful teacher in year 5 and progressed so quick that i didn't learn anything in math until year 9 and i had to get used to learning new concepts again. This is why i think a child driven place of learning is essential for bright kids. Montessori is a good medium. BTW i scored 90/99.9 for my TER similar to HSC so i remained above average compared to my class mates. I am not saying i want a really bright child or that she will continue to be bright, i just want to stimulate her so she isn't bored and provide her with opportunities that i didn't have.