# at what age did your kids learn their ABC's, counting, etc?



## colsxjack (Dec 9, 2009)

I am the parent of a 2 yr old DD. She is our first child.

I am never really sure if she is ahead, behind, right on track, being stimulated enough, over-stimulated, etc, etc, etc.

Not that it matters either way, but I do wonder sometimes.

At what age did your kid(s) learn things like ABC's, counting, identifying numbers and letters independent of each other, colours, shapes, etc?

At what age were they able to jump, walk backwards, climb the slide, dance, etc?

I suspect my daughter is ahead at some things, average at some and behind her peers at some.

I am not worried, just curious.


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## Marissamom (Dec 17, 2009)

DD is 26 months.

She can kind of sing the ABC's, but it's a little slurred and mispronounced

she can count to 5-7 depending on the day (we use counting to ten as a discipline tool, so she hears it a lot)

Some days she can identify A-G, but not always, no sight numbers

I think she knows blue, green, orange, pink, purple, red, and maybe green

she knows triangle and circle, she might know star

she has been able to jump since I think 20 months (she could get off the ground sometimes at 18 months)

I don't think I've ever seen her walk backwards, but I could be wrong

climb the stairs to the slide, 14 or 15 months, climb the actual slide, at 25 months she could climb the little toddler one at one of our parks

at 6 months she would dance if I held her by the armpits, by 13 months she could dance without help


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## crunchy_mommy (Mar 29, 2009)

A lot of things my DS just learned whenever he was exposed to them... and I kind of underestimated him and/or just didn't think to expose him to some things early on and intentionally didn't (still don't) expose him to certain things like letters... But anyway...

ABC's - could sing the song around 18mos, started identifying letters around the same time but still at 2.5 only knows some of his letters AFAIK
Counting - could rote-count to 10 maybe around 21mos?? Counted actual objects to 2 or 3 around 15mos but was 2 before he could consistently count objects to 10+. I don't know if he can identify numbers, sometimes he tells me the time on the clock but he's not always accurate so he must know some of them?
Colors & shapes - 10+ of each by 15mos

Jumping - couldn't do a 2-foot jump until recently, so maybe 27mos?
Walking backwards - no idea, maybe 18mos?
Climbing the slide - 16mos or so
Dancing - he's still not really a dancer, he would bop around a bit starting at 9mos or so but never got too into any other kind of dancing

I think most of these things can really be all over the board... and like I said, exposure, particularly for the 'academic' stuff...

Edited to fix typo.


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## pranava (Aug 11, 2007)

I think it may be hard to tell what's dead on average, advanced, or a little late from threads like this because the thread tends to trend in one direction. What I mean is, the first few posters have kids that seem quite advanced for their age, so then more people with advanced kids post and parents of kids that are average or below tend not to post. Or the other way around. Just a thought - there may be no validity to this theory.

I would consider my DS very advanced on some things. Counted to 10 at 18 months. Now at 28 months he can count objects to 10 and rote count aloud to 39, and identify numbers to 10. If I help him out with what comes after 39, 49, 59 etc., he can count to 100. He knew all letters capital and lower case and the sounds they made at 22 months. Now at 28 months he can sound out 3 and 4 letter words. Knew 10 colors at 18 months. Knew lots of shapes by 24 months. Loves singing and has probably 20 songs memorized. I think this is all on the far end of advanced for his age.

He is also very delayed with some things and in EI physical therapy for motor skills. Didn't climb onto furnitrue till 23 months. Can't run, can't jump, still wants to crawl up stairs at the playground, forget about climbing slides, can't dress or undress himself, can't stand on one foot. He can walk backwards and dance though. Started doing those things around 18 to 20 months.


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## Momo123 (Aug 6, 2009)

DS is 25 months.

ABC's: Knows the song but can't really sing it by himself

Counting: 1, 2, sometimes 3

Identifying numbers and letters: Can't identify numbers yet, just starting to recognize some capital letters (3 or 4?)

Colors: Knows most colors except black and white (learned between 18 and 24 months)

Shapes: Knows the basic ones (rectangle, square, circle, star, heart, oval) (learned between 18 and 24 months)

The colors and shapes he learned daycare.

My DS is delayed physically, he receives physical therapy through EI (since 6 months old)

Jump: Still working on it, but recently started trying to jump

Run: Started recently

Walk backwards: Around 2 years old, maybe a little before?

Climb the slide: Just recently started trying, but can't do it very well

Dance: He thinks he is dancing (LOL) but he basically just bops in place and spins around. He loves music so he's been doing this for a while now (maybe since 18 months?)


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## Xerxella (Feb 6, 2008)

I agree with pranava. These things can be all over the board. My first (a boy) was very verbal and did great with letters, numbers, shapes and all that, but I think I worked with him more on it. But, he was a slower developer physically. He didn't walk til about 14 months, so everything followed after that. My second (a daughter) was walking at 9 months and climbing up the stairs and the slide before then! (Talk about giving mommy a heart attack!) But, is behind where my son was at the same age on speech. She's 26 months and only now starting to put the words together to really explain what she wants. And, it's all within the range of normal.

I remember this chart, which I had looked at before:

http://www.babycenter.com/milestone-charts-birth-to-age-3

Here's another one, but I think their social or emotional steps are ridiculous. "Is willful" "Still needs to be near parent or caregiver" "Wants a lot of attention" "Hates to be restrained" "Knows what no means" But, anyways, it'll give you some idea on where "experts" think kids should be.

http://www.ask-nanny.com/child-development.html

And, here's a few more:

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/child-development/MY00136

http://www.all-about-motherhood.com/support-files/child-development-chart.pdf

Well, you get the idea. Overall, there's a wide margin of normal and it seems most kids surge forward in one area and then lag on another, but it all seems to even out in the end. Also, I have to add, I was more concerned about this with my first and then with my second I was more surprised by their differences and I knew by now about the range of normal.


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## colsxjack (Dec 9, 2009)

Our daughter has surprised us with some things. She is a week over 24 months.

She counts to 14 (the number of steps upstairs) since about 15months

recognize numbers from about 18 or 19 months

recognizes most letters (except some trickier ones like lower case p and q and upper case R and K) since about 20 - 22 months

out of the blue started singing ABC's at 22 months. Since about 16-18 months could do parts of the ABC's.

remembers songs

is a book fiend, and loves to be read to. She prefers longer story books to simple baby books.

recognizes most colours except grey. And sometimes mixes up orange and red or purple and blue.

recognizes and names most shapes including octagon. Has difficulty between rectangle and square.

Speaks in sentences and uses words and concepts that surprise us.

Actually tries to negotiate at a rate that surprised me and I wasn't prepared for.

All of this is probably due to her love of books. She can seriously be read 40 books a day without getting bored.

Physically she seemed to do some things early but others late.

She walked at 10 months, climbs up and down stairs. Always refused to crawl up or down them.

She can climb the monkey bars and up the slide. She can walk backwards, etc.

But she cannot jump. It is quite funny actually. She says she is jumping but does not even come close to getting any air.

She cannot dance at all. Bops up and down a bit but thats it.

She began running about 18 months, but only recently can do so without the risk of tripping on her own feet.

Her fine motor skills are not strong. She knows A LOT of signs, but cannot do very many herself, especially if they involve finger movements.

She just started being able to draw something other than a small straight line. And by that I mean she can draw a small curved line or a scribble now.

She can feed herself with a spoon, but isn't so great with a fork. She mostly likes to use her hands.

We are very fine with where she is at. Sometimes I wonder because other people that meet her seem to think she is advanced in language etc. Then I wonder if it is something we should encourage and work on her with. It is nice to see that it is not that much out of the ordinary for her to recognize the alphabet and numbers and such.


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## crunchy_mommy (Mar 29, 2009)

Well she probably is advanced verbally, from the sound of it. She sounds almost exactly like DS actually, right down to the reading 40 books a day thing. DS is in EI for social/emotional delays and sensory issues, and they have said his verbal and fine motor skills are on par with a 4-year-old (he's 2). His gross motor skills are overall pretty average though. I kind of just follow DS's lead in the areas in which he's advanced... I try not to push him in those areas at all, i.e.I have no doubt he could learn to read if I taught him how but I don't want him to be reading so early and neglecting the social/physical activities, you know?? So I will hold off on things like that and only answer specific questions (like, "What does that word say?") until he asks for more. He does like me to define words for him though...


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## SilverFish (Jan 14, 2010)

my dd is just 17 months.

from the list, she can:

dance, (been dancing "bopping" for months, it's getting a little bit more creative now) and

"jump" (i.e she gets the concept and walks around saying "dump! dump!" and bending her knees) and

climb the slide and go down by herself, albeit very clumsily and never without giving poor mama a near heart-attack every time.

that's about it... she's not even close to any of the verbal things yet. i might actually try singing the abc song to her though... she would appreciate the rhythm of it. we don't read much either. she likes to look at books on her own but isn't really into us reading to her, and anyway, i'm selfish and prefer to read my own books! i'm sure it'll come eventually.


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## Peony (Nov 27, 2003)

My youngest turned 2 in April. None of my kids have ever counted, done ABCs, anything like that at age 2, and he is no exception. We just started being able to sit down and read a book with him. They all have been able to climb the slide, dance around, jump, and walk backwards, even DS and he does have some mobility issues with his feet and wears orthotics. He adores dancing and started doing that as soon as he could walk which was around 18m. My kids just work on the physical stuff first and the rest comes later.


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## MommyEnchanted (May 25, 2011)

My daughter will be 3 in a couple of weeks. At 24-30 months she knew her colors, her shapes and knew what numbers were. She couldn't count, but she would 'pretend' and count like, '2, 7, 9, 1' She loved to do this with her toys or cheerios.

Her alphabet is tricky. I don't agree with teaching the song first, so we have been working on letter recognition. She can do most of them. She also watches Word World, and yesterday she said, "Let's build a word! A, C, I, G!" I asked her what that spelled and she said, 'Crabby Patties!' I was like, O.O We don't let her watch Spongebob....

She dances like crazy. She can copy dance moves and she has a sense of balance like nobody's business, lol.

I think your LO is right on track, tbh. With my girls, they focused on one set of skills, then when they felt they mastered it moved on to the other. Ella walked at 9 months. She did most physical things before anything else. My youngest, Anya, is focusing on speech and communication more than anything physical. Anya's first word was at 10 months. 'Yummy!' Clear as day.


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## Xavismom (Dec 22, 2009)

My DS is 20 months. I think he is advanced in some ways, and behind in others. I think thats pretty normal









His physical abilities, balance, and motor control are pretty great I think. He is a dancing MACHINE. Spins, jumps, hops, thows his arms about, its madness when he decides to dance! He's been doing it for quite some time, I forget exactly how long though. He was running at 11 months. He insists on going up and down stairs by himself, and he doesnt scoot, he walks, using the handrail. He freaks out if I try to help, he's been doing this for a few months. We bought him a tricycle with a parent push bar, but it took him about 10 min of it to figure out how to do the pedals. He climbs EVERYTHING. I've got some blankets laid out next to our couch now, because his favorite thing is to run across the room, leap up onto the couch, and then vault over the ends or the back. He is really good at putting things together, like board puzzles, and lacing toys. Most of his toys are around a 3+ yr level He loves taking things apart, and figuring out how to put it back exactly the same way. He is really aware of how or where things 'go'. If I have his toys laid out a certain way on his shelves, he'll put them back in that exact same order later in the day.

I am pretty sure he is behind verbaly though, He only consistently says 'Mom' and 'Dad'. The thing that he actually says the most, is 'HUH?!' All day, its 'Huh? HUH? Mom mom mom huh?'







He has said a few other words, but he only says them once, or twice maybe, and then we never hear them again. One time he said banana, really clearly, three times in one day. And he's never said it since! I dont forsee him speaking anytime soon. He is pretty creative about communicating non-verbally. He does not recognize any shapes, colors, numbers or letters, even though we do read to him quite a bit, and we have toys/books with numbers and alphabet. But he does know the names of other things, like his toys.

Like, for instance, he has a block puzzle of the alphabet. He cannot identify any of the colors or the letters if I ask him (even though we go over them), but if I say 'lets do your alphabet puzzle' he goes and gets it off of his shelf, and he can put it together.

His big thing right now is his lacing blocks. He understands 'lets play with your lacing blocks' (gets it off the shelf) or 'lets put the lacing blocks away'. (puts the blocks back into the box, and back on his shelf) He likes to sort them into piles of similar shapes, but he cannot identify 'blue' or 'round' etc, out of them. He just looks really confused when we try to label things by color or shape for him.

I do worry about his speech sometimes lately.

Edit to add: He is pretty good at naming body parts. He can point out : Hair, ears, eyes, nose, mouth, tongue, shoulder, elbow, hand, fingers, belly, belly button, bum, knees, feet, and toes. And he can point out other peoples too. Like, 'where are Dads knees?'.


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## hildare (Jul 6, 2009)

yeah, they are all different. so different! crazy.

dd, at 20 mos, almost 21 mos, can recognize consistently around 15 letters. possibly more, but not with consistency and P, b, and d are troublesome.

she knows, recognizes almost all the 'normal' colors and can also say things like orange-brown and blue-green. she's really into art.

she can say ABCD but not the rest nor sing the song. nor any real song, though she makes up a few with recognizable words thrown in. she will do an approximation of you are my sunshine but i think i am the only person that recognizes it as such.

she can sight read the words "go," "dog," "moo," and "hot." (she sight read the word hot at around 15 months or so).

recognizes around 9 or 10 shapes (from her puzzle box)

she has a pretty rocking spoken vocabulary, and her memory surprises me. i put breastmilk in her eye 5 months ago when i thought she might have an infection and she says "boobie? eye?" every other day or so. it must have made an impression. she will do some sentences on occasion, though single words are the majority of what she says unless she's repeating.

she can count (or WILL) count - correctly-- objects less than 5. she will not count to 5 when asked, though.







i don't know if that's a different skill set or if that's a strange brain quirk or what.

she can put together puzzles for ages 3 and up, but seems to have some spatial difficulty matching the directions the images are pointing.

she can correctly identify a few musical notes.

physically, she began to walk at around 10 or 11 months and basically was running at that point. and climbing onto the table.

before her first birthday i have a video of her being a complete ham at a show and dancing like a wee crazed monkey.

she likes to do things like high kicks, backwards walking, sledding on a lego box lid, and has recently begun to JUMP OFF THE COUCH. onto her face. over and over again. she climbed up the steps to the slide and slid on her own a few months ago when she got the set.


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## JordanKX (May 31, 2009)

My son is a lot like Peony - physical, not so interested in the verbal.

he is 22 months. Walked backwards about 16 months, and literally Walked Backwards everywhere we went for weeks. Dances like a pro; jumps for the past month or so. Not great air, but he does it. He loves to jump OFF things... off the sofa onto the ottoman, etc. He has no fear about climbing; climbs up slides, trees, fences, anything to get higher and higher.

He talks incessantly, but often the same word repeated throughout the day. He has a lot of mispronounced words but certainly not a great vocabulary. He points as though he's counting, but does not verbalize the numbers; doesn't recognize the numbers. Colors, letters? Yeah, no. Not at all. He's just started being interested in books, and will be read to before bed. After dinner he does the more interactive books where He gets to "count" the ladybugs and find animals on the page.

He's working out some organization stuff - everything has to be aligned and in the right order. Or stacked on top of each other. And he's working out some Reality elements - when he sees an item in a book, he has to find the Real one in the house. Those are really his two big fascinations right now... not verbalizing.


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## Blessed_Mom (Aug 15, 2009)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *colsxjack*
> 
> Our daughter has surprised us with some things. She is a week over 24 months.
> 
> ...


This is almost my DD in language and words and sentences and rhymes. She can recite about 20+ rhymes and completes stories (if I start a sentence she completes the rest). Except she has more trouble with colors. And she was jumping from 22 months and dances. Physically a bit more advanced maybe....

ETA: she is 25 months.


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## limette (Feb 25, 2008)

DD1 knew all that stuff around 18 months. I'd say that is advanced. DD2 has started learning that stuff over that past couple of months. She turned 3 in April. I think that's about average.


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## mckittre (Jan 15, 2009)

I do think you'll do better at figuring out "average" by looking at a milestone chart (which presumably has a larger and less biased sample to draw from), but this is sort of interesting to see the wide range of normal. Also, I think a lot of it is cultural. Most people around here don't focus on teaching toddlers academics and most don't go to daycare, so I'd say I don't know any two year olds that have all those letter/number skills. A lot of them are pretty good little naturalists, though, and I've made sure mine has the poisonous plants memorized.

My son is 29 months

Colors: He liked pointing out cars on the street by color, and at maybe 16 or 17 months he had pretty much all of them (he knew some color signs and could answer questions about colors, but didn't have all the spoken words yet at that age).

Shapes: I suppose he knows all the common shapes we normally talk about, but not things like octagon that we usually don't. Don't know when he learned them.

Letters: He usually knows more than I think - more than half of the capital letters I think, but not any lowercase ones. He has occasional little spurts of interest in letters, and I think the last one was months ago, so whatever he knows he's probably known since 24 months or earlier. He mixes up ones that can rotate to be different ones (M and W, N and Z, etc...)

Numbers: His magnets are only letters, so I don't think he recognizes any numbers.

Counting: He can count correctly to somewhere around 15 by rote, about 5 if he's counting objects.

ABCs: We never sang him the song. In the last month or two he's started listening to kids' music so I think he knows some of it now. He likes other songs better though, and much prefers to sing "Twinkle Twinkle" which is the only song he can sing in its entirety.

Dancing: He has never shown the slightest bit of interest in dancing, and still doesn't.

Jumping: Just learned this at about 28 months.

Walking backwards: It seems like a long time that he's been able to walk backwards, but I don't quite remember. Maybe 18 months.

Balancing: He's been able to put on his rubber boots since they started fitting him at 26 months or so, which requires balancing on one foot.

Climbing: We're not often around slides, but he likes to climb our lattice wall, and has very good balance walking planks, climbing on icy rocks, etc...

Fine motor: Before he was one, he could stack 7 blocks or make a fairly tall stack of jam or creamer packets at a restaurant, but he still can't draw anything I can identify.

His development has kind of gone in phases. He was very into books for a long time, and learning language. But he was talking in short sentences around 16 months and in long paragraphs since he was 24 months. Now I think he's satisfied he can talk just fine, and seems more interested in working on physical skills, like climbing and running and wrestling and riding his balance bike.


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## Blessed_Mom (Aug 15, 2009)

mckittre, where is "here"? just curious.


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## MrsBone (Apr 20, 2004)

DS knew his alphabet and could count to ten at about 27 months. He sings the songs and recognizes all the letters.

Now at 30 mo, he recognizes and can count to ten and can almost count to 20.

He still can't jump, but he can climb up a slide and sort of "dances."

He knows triangle, star, square and circle

He knows purple, pink, red, blue, orange, yellow and green but sometimes gets them confused.

The shapes and colors all really became clear to him in the past 2-3 months or so. He's done a ton of growing and learning just since his sister was born in May.


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## babygirlie (Jun 4, 2009)

Wow, threads like this are depressing. Makes me want to crawl into the fetal position.

Dd is 27 months. She's ppd-nos (aka too young to be confirmed as autistic yet)

Quote:


> At what age did your kid(s) learn things like ABC's, counting, identifying numbers and letters independent of each other, colours, shapes, etc?


Not yet. dd doesn't know any words, colors, numbers, shapes etc.

Quote:


> At what age were they able to jump, walk backwards, climb the slide, dance, etc?


She learned to stand at 16 months and consequently learned to walk pretty fast after that.

She doesn't dance, climb slides.. but she is a good climber on adult objects like the couch or chairs. She is more interested in adult items than kid stuff

She loves to jump on her mattress.. last couple months she learned she can hop on the floor too and loves to.

She's a pro at walking backwards! Helps to avoid eye contact. She can also take a spoon not facing you. She also has concerns with her shadow following her.


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## Blessed_Mom (Aug 15, 2009)

babygirlie....I am sorry. But - I know of many toddlers who developed late and then went on to be completely normal individuals. Some even went on to be geniuses (Einstein).


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## Peony (Nov 27, 2003)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *babygirlie*
> 
> Wow, threads like this are depressing. Makes me want to crawl into the fetal position.


I have 3 kids that are 2 and older and NONE have done any shapes, colors, ABCS at age 2. Heck, with my current 2y I'm just thrilled to death that he can say 8 words and 3 signs (he is speech delayed). My older two are old enough that I do have a sense of their learning abilities. DD1 was 5 and could not recognize her own name due to her LD but now at 8 can read chapter books and sports wise, she runs circles around the vast majority of children and quite a few adults as well. She has several disorders so we've done extensive testing with her, she is a bright child. It was obviously not readily apparent as a young child, in the sense that she was singing her ABCs by 18m or anything like that! My DH was the same way as a child, his parents were once told he would never learn to read and write, they would be lucky if he even spoke. He is a genius actually, his IQ tests are insane, and he turned into a very successful adult.

Such things at age 2 are really worthless to compare.


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## mckittre (Jan 15, 2009)

Blessed_Mom - I'm in a small town in Alaska.

Specific learning disorders might be apparent in adulthood, or maybe not. But discussions like this are just for parent curiosity. Looking at all the adults around me, I would be hard pressed to figure out which knew their ABCs at 2 and which did not.


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## waiting2bemommy (Dec 2, 2007)

> I am the parent of a 2 yr old DD. She is our first child.
> 
> I am never really sure if she is ahead, behind, right on track, being stimulated enough, over-stimulated, etc, etc, etc.
> 
> ...


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## sosurreal09 (Nov 20, 2009)

My DD is 21 m/o

she can walk backwards, climb everything, dance etc at about 18 m/o (started walking at 9 m/o)

She can count 1-10

She can sing the beginning of ABC's

She can read some words and will tell you what letters are which (for say half of them)

She knows a lot of colors

She does not do shapes yet.

She can do puzzles (simple wooden knob ones) in like 30 seconds.


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## holothuroidea (Mar 30, 2008)

DD1 just learned to sing the ABC song and she's going to be 3 next month, and she identifies all of them (big and small) easily. She can also now tell me what sounds all the letters make, and can tell me what letter a word starts by sound with if it's a simple word (for example, she knows that dog starts with D but not that elephant starts with E). She knows and identifies numbers up to 20 but she cannot "count" yet. (She counts one, two and more than two which I think is pretty typical of a 3 year old). She started reliably identifying colors a couple months ago (2.5yrs), and shapes quite a bit before that.

She jumped with both feet around 18 months, and walking backwards happened at around the same time. She's climbed the slide since before her second birthday and I can't remember a time when she didn't dance. She is a lot more physical than verbal and tends to learn quickly whatever gives her more independence. She started walking at 9 months, climbing out of her crib at 14 months, dressing herself at 18 months and opening doors at 2.


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## SaraCate (Jul 21, 2009)

I don't remember a lot of the exact ages, but I this is what DS (30 mo.) can do, w/ ages where I remember: sing ABCs, count to twelve (I found out he could count to ten @26 mos., don't know how long he'd known before that), triangle/circle/square by 21 mos., star by 23, heart...around the same time?, recognizes maybe 4 or 5 letters consistently (e.g., will bring me "G" and say "It's for Gareth!") and maybe another half-dozen inconsistently...jumped somewhere between 18-22 mos, I think...colors have gotten much more solid in the past months or so (9-10 colors).

What I've found on the cognitive/inellectual side is that he often knows more than *I* am aware that he knows. For example, I found out he could count to ten in early March - when he did it (sort of) out of the blue. And then did it again, so I knew it wasn't a fluke. 

~Sara


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## mommy212 (Mar 2, 2010)

How do you ladies work with your younger toddlers on letters, numbers, etc? We count a lot, and I talk at length to him about anything we see, but he is still a bit behind on the talking/more cognitive things.

He says very few words at 21 months, and none of them are identifying letters, numbers, colors of shapes. He can identify several animals on sight- he loves his animal books 

On the physical side, I think he has always been a little advanced. He walked backwards around 17 months, and climbs the small slides if he has the right shoes on. He has done "arm dancing" for a while, where he just shakes his arms or does a twist type thing, and recently has begun to dance by shaking his booty because one of his friends does that. He spins in circles and can stop himself quickly if he sees something coming up that he'll run into. He can also walk a standard 4-inch balance beam as long as he is not distracted, lol. He'll also climb a tree outside our house about 2-3 feet of the ground.


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## Marissamom (Dec 17, 2009)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *mommy212*
> 
> How do you ladies work with your younger toddlers on letters, numbers, etc? We count a lot, and I talk at length to him about anything we see, but he is still a bit behind on the talking/more cognitive things.
> 
> He says very few words at 21 months, and none of them are identifying letters, numbers, colors of shapes. He can identify several animals on sight- he loves his animal books


we just try to expose her to stuff. we have letter refrigerator magnets and I'll have her point to one and tell her the letter, the sound, and some words that start with that sound. her dad draws with 
her and shows her shapes and sometimes letters and numbers. we sing the ABC's we we wash hands and count to ten when she needs to hurry up. really, it's not something to stress about. kids will learn the academic stuff when they're ready as long as it's available.


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## sosurreal09 (Nov 20, 2009)

I haven't done anything that I know of. IDK how she knows the things she does to tell you the truth! I think all kids will just do things at their own pace and there is a big range of what's considered "normal".

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *mommy212*
> 
> How do you ladies work with your younger toddlers on letters, numbers, etc? We count a lot, and I talk at length to him about anything we see, but he is still a bit behind on the talking/more cognitive things.
> 
> ...


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## LynnS6 (Mar 30, 2005)

The PBS development tracker is very sound and has good benchmark milestones.
http://www.pbs.org/parents/childdevelopmenttracker/two/index.html

It's important to note that the range of typical development is huge, and different kids work on different skills at different times. Our DS learned all his shapes and colors really early because we had a shape puzzle that he loved. He demanded to know each shape and each color and could do them all by about 20 months. When dd as 23 months I realized that she didn't know a single color word because she didn't ask and I hadn't thought to teach them.

I think it's also important to remember that reciting the alphabet or numbers is sort of like learning a song. Just because they know three words doesn't mean they know the concept. I remember putting together an alphabet train puzzle with ds when he was about 3 ½. Ibegan to sing the ABC song and point to the letters. It was like a lightbulb went on for him. That was the first time he realized that the words to the song meant something. (And he still didn't learn to read until 1st grade. )


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## crunchy_mommy (Mar 29, 2009)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *mommy212*
> 
> How do you ladies work with your younger toddlers on letters, numbers, etc? We count a lot, and I talk at length to him about anything we see, but he is still a bit behind on the talking/more cognitive things.
> 
> He says very few words at 21 months, and none of them are identifying letters, numbers, colors of shapes. He can identify several animals on sight- he loves his animal books


Really, I would not stress about this at all. He will learn to do those things, there's really no reason he needs to know them at 1.5yo!! I don't think you need to do anything beyond casually expose him to the info and answer questions as they arise. Some people would even argue against introducing those things at all (i.e. Waldorf philosophies stress not rushing a child into reading & math, they don't teach it 'til after age 7 from what I understand). Your kid sounds very physical, so even more so may need time to just be a kid, conquer physical challenges, etc.


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## fullhandswith3 (May 13, 2008)

I don't know if you have heard but ABC Jesus Loves Me has a brand new free preschool curriculum for 2 Year Olds. This joins the 3 and 4 Year Curriculum. You can look at what it covers to give you an idea. It is a prep website for Kindergarten so by the time the child has covered the curriculum, he/she will know what is needed for Kindergarten (and much more).

Hope this helps!

www.abcjesuslovesme.com - is the website


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## hildare (Jul 6, 2009)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *mommy212*
> 
> How do you ladies work with your younger toddlers on letters, numbers, etc? We count a lot, and I talk at length to him about anything we see, but he is still a bit behind on the talking/more cognitive things.


what we do is very much dependent on dd's personality. she is MADLY driven, sometimes in an annoying (but positive) way. she approaches abc's etc much the way she did crawling and walking.. that is, to obsess about it until she had mastered the task at hand. the obsession is not always pretty, either. we're smack in the middle of ABC land right now. meaning that she demands to go "UP" where the computer is, where we watch little short clips of abc (i think the tilly and the wall sesame street abc is on repeat in my brain at this point) and will absolutely positively flip out when i deny the abc's. (i have concerns about screen time. that and i cannot stand.to.hear.the.song.one.more.flippin.time)

so..... in the future, i am thinking montessori is a good fit for her as she is so motivated. i have no idea where she gets this from. i am much more laid back (read:disorganized) in my approach to learning.

is that normal or typical? is anybody else's kid like this? help?


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## hildare (Jul 6, 2009)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *fullhandswith3*
> 
> I don't know if you have heard but ABC Jesus Loves Me has a brand new free preschool curriculum for 2 Year Olds. This joins the 3 and 4 Year Curriculum. You can look at what it covers to give you an idea. It is a prep website for Kindergarten so by the time the child has covered the curriculum, he/she will know what is needed for Kindergarten (and much more).
> 
> ...


uh.... the kiddo needs to know about jesus to go to kindergarten? wha?


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## Mal85 (Sep 3, 2008)

My daughter is 2.5 years old (29 months to be exact) and she's just never been into learning things like that. She's a very physical child and her motor skills have always been more advanced than anything else. She has only recently become interested in singing her ABC's, but doesn't recognize any letters. She sort of counts "1,2,4,5" when she's gearing up to do something like race or jump into the pool. She has just recently started asking about colors, but really only recognizes blue so far.

However, she is doing somersaults, running backwards, climbing her rock wall with no assistance, almost totally potty trained, etc. She's just a more physical kid and prefers to master her motor skills before anything else. I really don't worry about it, personally. I expose her just like any other kid, she's just not into it yet. I have a daycare kid one month older than her who is counting to 10, recognizes almost all the colors of the rainbows, knows her ABC's and recognizes the letters in her name. The trade off is that she's not nearly as advanced physically and those two have always been that way.


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## sosurreal09 (Nov 20, 2009)

Totally normal! She may be a touch spirited. My DD is hardcore spirited but not completely driven. All kids vary, I'd say yours is a leader!

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *hildare*
> 
> what we do is very much dependent on dd's personality. she is MADLY driven, sometimes in an annoying (but positive) way. she approaches abc's etc much the way she did crawling and walking.. that is, to obsess about it until she had mastered the task at hand. the obsession is not always pretty, either. we're smack in the middle of ABC land right now. meaning that she demands to go "UP" where the computer is, where we watch little short clips of abc (i think the tilly and the wall sesame street abc is on repeat in my brain at this point) and will absolutely positively flip out when i deny the abc's. (i have concerns about screen time. that and i cannot stand.to.hear.the.song.one.more.flippin.time)
> 
> ...


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## pranava (Aug 11, 2007)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *hildare*
> 
> what we do is very much dependent on dd's personality. she is MADLY driven, sometimes in an annoying (but positive) way. she approaches abc's etc much the way she did crawling and walking.. that is, to obsess about it until she had mastered the task at hand. the obsession is not always pretty, either. we're smack in the middle of ABC land right now. meaning that she demands to go "UP" where the computer is, where we watch little short clips of abc (i think the tilly and the wall sesame street abc is on repeat in my brain at this point) and will absolutely positively flip out when i deny the abc's. (i have concerns about screen time. that and i cannot stand.to.hear.the.song.one.more.flippin.time)
> 
> ...


Yep, very driven and TOTALLY letter obsessed here!!! He must have his fridge magnets with him at all times, including in the bathtub and in bed. Also, he's constantly quizzing everyone around him on the sounds they make and the difference between vowels and consonants. Try Starfall if your DD likes to watch abc stuff on the computer.


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## Blessed_Mom (Aug 15, 2009)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *pranava*
> 
> Yep, very driven and TOTALLY letter obsessed here!!! He must have his fridge magnets with him at all times, including in the bathtub and in bed. Also, he's constantly quizzing everyone around him on the sounds they make and the difference between vowels and consonants. Try Starfall if your DD likes to watch abc stuff on the computer.


What is starfall?


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## Marissamom (Dec 17, 2009)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Blessed_Mom*
> 
> What is starfall?


Starfall.com is a Phonics teaching website, lots of letter-interested toddler/preschoolers/kindergartners love it.


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## Happymom! (Oct 7, 2014)

The actual answer as to when your child should able to say abcs and count to ten is by kindergarten. People that post on forums often either exaggerate or are raising little geniuses. Remember that Einstein himself did not even talk until two years old! Your LO sounds perfectly on track! Keep on keeping on!


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## element2012 (Jun 13, 2011)

I think somewhere around 2 you begin to get a clear understanding of what your child's interests are. Mine is nearly three and has always been very interested in language, music, numbers and not interested in physical , fine motor, social. She's long known her ABCs, their sounds, can rote count very high and count objects, lots of colors and shapes. Danced before she walked. Knows many sight words and always asking what something says. Memorizes beginning reader books quickly so she can re enact them with her stuffed animals. So rather advanced in those areas. She takes a lot of coaching to get her to interact with other people. She was never the smiley, waving, happy baby to strangers and passersby. She has almost no interest in trikes, balance bikes, scooters, kicking or throwing balls or anything that requires physical effort. When we go to the park she's more likely to follow a beetle around than pay attention to another kid. I have to keep an eye because the more social kids want to play with her and get aggressive when she won't engage. So I think some kids jump ahead in one area or another perhaps neglecting others, and some kids have a more balanced approach.


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## MOMentarily Distracted (Jul 30, 2015)

ABC's - I decided to focus on phonetic letter sounds rather than the letter name. She ended up being able to recognize the phonetic sound and letter name anyway. She's 26 months. I'm not sure when she actually identified them all, but maybe around 22 months. Dad teachers her English stuff and I speak German with her. 

counting - She could count to 10 in German and English at 20 months. 

identifying numbers - Around 22 months she could identify individual numbers in German and English 

colours - She gets her colors right about 75% of the time at 26 months. Colors are the most difficult for kids to learn, because shades can be so deceiving sometimes. She definitely has her primary colors down and black, white and green, but orange and purple are up for debate. She knows what turquoise is though. 

shapes - She knows triangle, square and circle in English and German, but I haven't been focusing on shapes with her much. 


jump -20 months 
walk backwards - 18 months
climb the slide - 15 months 
dance - 14 months 

A tip for gross motor skill development is to get a Rody horse. This helped her with her core balance and she was able to go down a slide by herself without falling backward way before she could even walk. She walked at 13 months.


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## MOMentarily Distracted (Jul 30, 2015)

mommy212 said:


> How do you ladies work with your younger toddlers on letters, numbers, etc? We count a lot, and I talk at length to him about anything we see, but he is still a bit behind on the talking/more cognitive things.


I think it started with understanding the concept of 1 and 2 by counting her feet as I put her pants on as a baby. I'd say: "One foot, two feet" but in German since I speak only German with her. I'd do the same for her arms when dressing her. "How many eyes does mommy have?" "One eye, two eyes." Lots of redundant pointing and asking questions all day long. Narration is key, because they love to listen and watch your facial expressions. They learn to speak by watching how your mouth moves/how you make the sounds with your mouth. We practiced Letters (phonetic sounds) with an alphabet puzzle by Hape. Then she would begin to recognize the letters while we were out and about and even on some playgrounds that displayed them. Talking nice and slow and making songs out of everything helps them pay attention too.


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## MonicaP1987 (Aug 6, 2015)

She started saying semi-coherent noises around 16 months, and then we could start identifying what she meant by 18 months or so. I feel like that's a normal amount?


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