Almost-two-year-old

Preschool readiness skills (birth to age 5) and the common developmental concerns of young children.

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Robin
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Joined: Tue Mar 17, 2009 7:33 am
Location: Baton Rouge

Almost-two-year-old

Postby Robin » Tue Mar 17, 2009 10:44 am

Hi! I'm new to this site and I have a 20-month-old son. I've read a lot of the posts and I agree that he's too young for formal schooling. But I've had a lot of luck teaching him colors, animals, body parts, ect just by working with him with flashcards or picture books. I'd love to keep going since he seems to really like to learn. I've searched the web for ideas for this age group, but it seems really limited. I'd love to just get some ideas from others on this board as to what you did to help your toddlers at this age.

Here's a little background on us if it helps. I'm a single work-from-home mom, so I have a really flexible schedule, but do have to go into the home office and get work done a few hours a day. I normally turn on the Noggin channel and try to time my work so that he's not left to the video babysitter for more than an hour at a time. It's just been in the last few weeks that he's become interested in more interactive learning, like the flashcards, but he's blowing through them like lightening. Today we went to the library toddler storytime and that went really well, so I plan to make it a weekly activity. He goes to mother's day out on Fridays since I have my weekly meeting then, but he doesn't like being left there much. When I've managed to peek in on him, he's usually sitting by himself looking unhappy. We live pretty far out in the country and his only cousin lives thousands of miles away, so neither he or I have any nearby friends. However, his Nana and Pawpaw live next door. His dad is very active in his life and gets him at least 2 days a week. His dad and I get along well and agree on most parenting points, which is a blessing. We both want to encourage as much early learning as possible. We're also preparing for the possibility that he may be dislexic since both his dad and paternal grandfather are. However, since Dad is a nurse and Grandpa's a professor, we know that dislexia in no way needs to hold him back if he has it.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

Robin

Jazzy
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Postby Jazzy » Tue Mar 17, 2009 2:20 pm

I have a 2 year old right now and they are so fun!

My toddler helps me out around the house with things like watering plants, putting wet clothes in the dryer, holding the dustpan, putting pillows on the bed, etc. He also likes to stand on a stool and watch me cook. While we're doing all these things together we are talking and he's learning conversation, language, etc. and also building motor skills.

He also likes to color and write with different types of materials - markers, dry erase markers, chalk, etc. Playdoh is another favorite activity that we do almost weekly. It is great for building fine motor skills. We have a sandbox in our backyard that he'll play in for hours - that's another good activity for motor skills.

Blocks are great for teaching colors, counting, patterns, etc. You can also cut food (sandwiches, cookies, jello) into shapes or dye it different colors (we do this with icing) to teach colors. We have some leap frog letter magnets that my toddler loves playing with. It also sings the alphabet song.

Time outdoors is great for toddlers. Collect leaves or rocks or acorns, and count them or use them in artwork.

That is pretty much all we do other than reading, and I am always surprised by how much my toddler knows. They are wired to learn and they just seem to soak up things around them.

I don't know if this is what you were looking for, but I hope it was helpful.

There's a great blog you may want to check out called No Time for Flashcards that posts a new learning activity for toddlers every day. It might be fun for you if you're looking for structured activities.

Robin
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Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Mar 17, 2009 7:33 am
Location: Baton Rouge

Postby Robin » Tue Mar 17, 2009 4:36 pm

Hi Jazzy! That's exactly what I'm looking for. We do many of the things you suggested already. But I think I'm going to invest in some playdoh. I don't know why I haven't already. I guess sometimes we, as parents, get stuck in our children's last stages, so if it crossed my mind, I thought "He'll eat it". But when I read your post, I really thought about it and realized he probably wouldn't. Thank you!

I'm also going to try to do a nature walk type thing. I live on a dead end road with many acres of woods behind it, so it's a great place to do something like that, especially now that it's getting so warm.

I bookmarked the blog you sent and am going to read it now. It sounds like fun.

Robin


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