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#1
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a nice question to have
my second born turns two next week. personally, i think she hung the
moon, along with her big brother, but i'm her ima - i'm supposed to. while my parents were visiting over mother's day though, my mom couldn't stop exclaiming about how incredibly smart my little ladybug is. indeed, she speaks a lot, she uses fairly complete sentences, she knows her colors, she can count to, umm, maybe 12 or 13?, she has some songs memorized, and her memory seems very good to me. if i teach her a new animal in a new book, for example, the next time we read that book she will almost certainly remember the animal's name. compared to her big brother, who has a speech delay and is in preschool for it, she's light years ahead of where he was at 2. but i had figured that was because she's 1) a girl and 2) not speech delayed. it hadn't really occured to me that she might be a little genius, or whatever. ;-) so, what the heck is my actual question? i have three so far: 1) is she really that far ahead of her peers in the first place? 2) should i try to shut people up when they start exclaiming how smart she is where she can hear them? i neither want a stuck-up kid or a child who thinks intelligence is more important than, say, flexibility, kindness, stick-to-it-iveness, being a good Jew, etc.. i also don't want a rude child who thinks it is ok to tell strangers, or grammy, what to think and say! 3) should i strive to enhance her learning, or continue to raise her as i am - lots of books and outings and conversations; and also lots of videos and ima is too tired and pregnant to play right now. she's doing so "great" as is that complete strangers are surprised to learn her age, but am i doing her a disservice by not pushing her? i doubt it, but i'd like other opinions. -- -- Vicki Married DH May 21, 1995. Ima shel Sullen, born 11/16/99; Chatty, born at home 5/19/02, and Expected, "due" September 4, 2004. |
#2
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a nice question to have
Vicki S wrote in message m... my second born turns two next week. personally, i think she hung the moon, along with her big brother, but i'm her ima - i'm supposed to. while my parents were visiting over mother's day though, my mom couldn't stop exclaiming about how incredibly smart my little ladybug is. indeed, she speaks a lot, she uses fairly complete sentences, she knows her colors, she can count to, umm, maybe 12 or 13?, she has some songs memorized, and her memory seems very good to me. if i teach her a new animal in a new book, for example, the next time we read that book she will almost certainly remember the animal's name. compared to her big brother, who has a speech delay and is in preschool for it, she's light years ahead of where he was at 2. but i had figured that was because she's 1) a girl and 2) not speech delayed. it hadn't really occured to me that she might be a little genius, or whatever. ;-) so, what the heck is my actual question? i have three so far: 1) is she really that far ahead of her peers in the first place? Looking back at my diary when #1 was that age, I noticed that she had a spurt between 23-24 months. She had just over 450 words at 2 years. I remember the hv asking her to build a tower at the 2 yr check and #1 saying "Can you build one first, please, then it's my turn?" The hv proceded to ask me whether she could use 50 words! She could count accurately (ie getting the right number when counting objects) only up to 9, but recite up to 17, for some reason she always missed out 18 and 20. Why those, I've no idea!!! She did get interested in words and letters at that time, and learnt all her letters, lower and upper case by typing on the computer in that month. I have her down reading 6 words by age 2. That's what interested her though-she didn't know her colours until she was 2.5 for example. Pre-school have said she's "able", but she doesn't seem ahead of the other girls from what I've seen. I always thought her apparent good memory at that time wasjust that she could express what she remembered not necessarily better that those who couldn't say as much. Hit the why stage shortly after 2! Seems finally to be growing out of it. Thank goodness! 2) should i try to shut people up when they start exclaiming how smart she is where she can hear them? i neither want a stuck-up kid or a child who thinks intelligence is more important than, say, flexibility, kindness, stick-to-it-iveness, being a good Jew, etc.. i also don't want a rude child who thinks it is ok to tell strangers, or grammy, what to think and say! I hate this too. I either say "thank you" and change the subject, or something like "she's very keen on counting/words whatever they're talking about". I change the subject quickly in any case. 3) should i strive to enhance her learning, or continue to raise her as i am - lots of books and outings and conversations; and also lots of videos and ima is too tired and pregnant to play right now. she's doing so "great" as is that complete strangers are surprised to learn her age, but am i doing her a disservice by not pushing her? i doubt it, but i'd like other opinions. What #1 has learnt I've always let her decide. If she's keen to do something then I'll help her, but not initiate it. At the moment she's into writing. I find notes all round the house "To mummy (small sentence like "love you, or thank you, usually") Love Rachel and Anna." I give her paper, and spell anything she asks for, but don't do anything else. She'll only learn if she's enjoying it imo, so there's no point in pushing. Debbie |
#3
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a nice question to have
Vicki S wrote:
my second born turns two next week. personally, i think she hung the moon, along with her big brother, but i'm her ima - i'm supposed to. while my parents were visiting over mother's day though, my mom couldn't stop exclaiming about how incredibly smart my little ladybug is. indeed, she speaks a lot, she uses fairly complete sentences, she knows her colors, she can count to, umm, maybe 12 or 13?, she has some songs memorized, and her memory seems very good to me. if i teach her a new animal in a new book, for example, the next time we read that book she will almost certainly remember the animal's name. compared to her big brother, who has a speech delay and is in preschool for it, she's light years ahead of where he was at 2. but i had figured that was because she's 1) a girl and 2) not speech delayed. it hadn't really occured to me that she might be a little genius, or whatever. ;-) so, what the heck is my actual question? i have three so far: 1) is she really that far ahead of her peers in the first place? It's *so* hard to compare them. I don't think that she's outside the bounds of normal, but she's certainly moving along well. 2) should i try to shut people up when they start exclaiming how smart she is where she can hear them? i neither want a stuck-up kid or a child who thinks intelligence is more important than, say, flexibility, kindness, stick-to-it-iveness, being a good Jew, etc.. i also don't want a rude child who thinks it is ok to tell strangers, or grammy, what to think and say! Of course you don't have to shut them up. I just beam and say we're so blessed to have such wonderful children. I don't think kids get stuck up from this sort of thing, and their priorities won't be askew from what others say. They'll be looking to the day-to-day constants you provide for that. 3) should i strive to enhance her learning, or continue to raise her as i am - lots of books and outings and conversations; and also lots of videos and ima is too tired and pregnant to play right now. she's doing so "great" as is that complete strangers are surprised to learn her age, but am i doing her a disservice by not pushing her? i doubt it, but i'd like other opinions. Don't push her. Just let her lead the way and all will be well and she will learn and grow at the right pace for her. Best wishes, Ericka |
#4
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a nice question to have
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#5
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a nice question to have
In article ,
(Vicki S) wrote: my second born turns two next week. [...] indeed, she speaks a lot, she uses fairly complete sentences, she knows her colors, she can count to, umm, maybe 12 or 13?, she has some songs memorized, and her memory seems very good to me. if i teach her a new animal in a new book, for example, the next time we read that book she will almost certainly remember the animal's name. snip 1) is she really that far ahead of her peers in the first place? Try this: http://www.austega.com/gifted/preschoolers.htm 2) should i try to shut people up when they start exclaiming how smart she is where she can hear them? i neither want a stuck-up kid or a child who thinks intelligence is more important than, say, flexibility, kindness, stick-to-it-iveness, being a good Jew, etc.. i also don't want a rude child who thinks it is ok to tell strangers, or grammy, what to think and say! There is a difference, I think, between being aware of your gifts and being too big for your boots. We're all good at some things and less good at other things. Intelligence doesn't exempt you from being kind (though it seems that intelligence and high ethical standards do go together). 3) should i strive to enhance her learning, or continue to raise her as i am - lots of books and outings and conversations; and also lots of videos and ima is too tired and pregnant to play right now. she's doing so "great" as is that complete strangers are surprised to learn her age, but am i doing her a disservice by not pushing her? i doubt it, but i'd like other opinions. I don't believe we should push children, but i think we should follow where they lead. If she's keen on letters and numbers, get her some magnetic ones for the fridge, show her calendars, etc. OTOH you want to encourage broad interests, not a narrow specialisation. I'm walking the same tightrope. More later. -- Chookie -- Sydney, Australia (Replace "foulspambegone" with "optushome" to reply) "Life is like a cigarette -- smoke it to the butt." -- Harvie Krumpet |
#6
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a nice question to have
It doesn't really matter how she compares to average. Just enjoy her as she is, and help her continue learning at her own pace. I think what you're doing is fine. If you feel like it, you can start teaching her the sounds of the letters. There are some suggestions on how to do this on my web page: http://www.ncf.ca/~an588/par_home.html (my parenting page) follow the link to the stuff on phonics .... but I'm certainly not saying you "should" teach her the sounds of the letters at this age. You just can if you feel like it. Gradually and in a fun way. Just reading her stories so she learns to enjoy books is probably more important at this stage. -- Cathy |
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