Just curious.... Counting, alphabet etc

[Zombie_eyes]

I wrote out this long response, went to submit and it was lost

Thanks for sharing your opinion and experience Bel1978 and DiamondEyes. Would you mind sharing how they were diagnosed and what they missed in diagnosis earlier, what was your childs behaviour that triggered the diagnosis? If you'd prefer to discuss off this forum, feel free to pm me.

I often do look at my son's communication and learning and wonder. He has been reviewed by mchn and he was seen by a clinical psychologist who confirmed he was fine. I know they all develop differently, but I just don't know what's "normal" range and let kids be kids and when to pursue it. Things like when I ask him questions he says "don't know" or won't listen to instructions like when he plays with a toy he just presses buttons and doesn't listen to what the toy is saying to press the "right" button to answer and if I sit down and try and show him he'll just get frustrated and move on to the next thing. So stuff like that, normal for a 4 year old boy who just wants to play how he wants to play or an issue?

So what do you do to "teach" numbers/letters etc through play? I have books we read, toys that have alphabet, leap frog fridge magnets etc and try and make it fun but to no avail. He's just not interested. Although when it's on tv shows he'll watch with interest. Hmmmm.

http://www.bubhub.com.au/community/f...ight=Our+story

^ thats my story, altho under my old username. The first threemposts are leading upto having bub, the 4th post is where i start to talk about the issues inwas having with him.

[Bel1978]

Happy to reply here as for some reason can't Pm off my phone anyone know why???

My 2 kids are so different, I put DD into preschool 1 day a week at 2 as her language and social skills just didn't seem right, then preschool said we think you should get it checked out. We already had a paed and he was following her already he did some tests and diagnosed her with PDD-NOS she didn't have the receptive skills as in didn't understand pick up the ball etc and repeated words that she had eg Door Door she had dropped most words that she had learnt earlier like mum dad etc.. I wanted a formal diagnoses this year so we got Aspect to go to preschool they changed her diagnoses to Autism.. She also attends an EI class through dept of Ed.

[august]

My DS just turned 3 he knows...

- Names of all colours and names of most shapes ( he can only drawer a circle though)
- Can count to about 15 before he mucks it up.
- Can recognise a few letters J,M,T,S,O,D,N,X

He cant sing the alphabet by himself but will sing along with me.
He also can read parts of familiar books by memory though (not actually reading the words).
And he can look at a most of his books and he remembers the title of it.

My DS has an amazing memory but isn't as interested in drawing.
he isn't as confident as most 3 yo when it comes to climbing and jumping etc he is way more cautious.

He knows the baby animal names for things too like Dog- puppy, Kangaroo- joey, Lion- cub, Cat, kitten etc.

[mummakat]

By 22 months my son could count to 14 by himself, Knows and can identify all his colours, knows square, triangle, rectangle, heart, diamond, moon, star and circle. He knows and can recognise about 6 letters but does not know the days of the week yet.

[Kimberleygal1]

My ds knew his colors and could count to ten before he turned 2. He could count to 20, count backwards, count on his fingers, knows his shapes by 3.5yrs. He is nearly 4 and can recognize his name and knows his name starts with L.

[Witwicky]

DS has recognised basic shapes (circle/square) and a few colours since 18 months.

He is 2.5 now and has known most shapes and most colours since 2ish. I ask him to name the shapes and colours of things when we are out and about as a game to occupy him and he is quite good at it now. It's one of his favourite games in the car

He can say the alphabet and can count to 15. In terms of comprehending what he is counting as opposed to just reciting, he can only comprehend up to the number three (I.e.: he will count out three pieces of fruit).

He is just starting to recognise numbers and letters and is recognising countries on the world map due to their shape (I've been showing him maps of where we are going on holiday).

Anything he has learnt has been learnt through play or during story time, or from listening to us talking. We are all learning Italian at the moment and he is picking it up faster than anyone else - he just has a mind like a sponge, it's crazy!

[FearlessLeader]

DS is 2 and can recognise some numbers that have significance to him, such as 6 as it's our unit number, he also recognises 2, 3 and 8. No letters apart from O, as his name starts with O. Very good with shapes, starting to get colours. Knows black, red, yellow, green, blue and gets them right 80% of the time. He can count to ten with assistance but on his own will skip a few numbers. He always gets the sequence right, though.

It's incredible to think 6 months ago he wasn't even saying 'mummy'

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[trishalishous]

dd is 23 months, she counts objects, correctly up to3 in english, and can recite up to 11 in both languages. she can read 1-10 in both languages. she know both words for red,green yellow,blue and purple,and english pink, orange, silver, gold.
she can't read yet (she guesses cat/dog/house/etc, but there are pictures on the page too)
she sorts big to small in both languages, and knows a few opposites in english

[crunchie]

Wow great thread, thanks or starting OP. DD turned 20 mo today so its great to hear what i should be encouraging her to do!

She says very few words at the moment. Ta, more, no, mama, dada, papa, roo, duck, clock and says her brothers name clearly. She has only just started showing interest in her shape sorter and Understnds if the shape doesnt fit one hole try the next... She points to everything, knows all her body parts and everything in the first books like dog, cat etc. She oves pretend play!

DH only speaks to her in Dutch and she understands everything, she says only on Dutch word that we know of!

I sing ABC to her all the time but she doesnt show any sign of saying it or numbers.

There are some very clever toddlers out there!

[Girl X]

DD is 21mths, and she can count to 20, knows all the colours, and most shapes (not all of the 'harder' ones but some). She knows some of the letters of the alphabet (but not all), and can read and spell out her name.

I think she's a bit unusual in doing that though. She was counting to 6, and saying some colours and shapes at 15mths, and has gone on from there.

Most of what she's learned has been through incidental play, reading books, watching TV, and playing with alphabet fridge magnets.