# Too young for "school", need some ideas



## CuriousWanderer (Feb 23, 2014)

My toddler, she turned two in April, loves to learn! She is pretty well advanced for her age and can do the following:
Name all body parts
Count to up to ten verbally, on fingers, and with objects
Knows all colors
Can identify all uppercase letters and most lowercase ones as well
Knows basic shapes

The problem I am having is she really wants to write her alphabet but she does not have the control and dexterity with writing yet. She gets upset when she can't do it and I don't know how to encourage her.
I am not pushing any of these things on her, we play lots of games that involve those things and she helps me count fruit and such at the grocery store. She is very imaginative and loves to play, sing, and dance as well. 
Is there anything I can do to help her or should I simply give her more time to draw and color? Am I stressing too much about this? I want to encourage her in the things that interest her and right now that is the alphabet. Any advice would be most appreciated


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## unregistered358895 (Jul 15, 2013)

I also have a 2 year old who has discovered cookie cutters and play-dough. Maybe get an alphabet and numbers set and see if she can stamp them out?


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## BigM (Mar 22, 2008)

Don't stress it, she's 2. Are you using large crayons/pencils for writing? Finger exercises that develop fine motor skills will help. Haveing her trace large letters and numbers will be very good for her. Learning how to cut out things will help as well.


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## light rain (Jan 14, 2013)

Years ago when our kids were your daughter's age I bought the big fat crayolas and some toothy paper. They liked the color red and we started with them learning to print their names. *Made sure you keep a close eye because sometimes the expanse of the floor or white walls is VERY TEMPTING. They watched Sesame street and we talked about what was on the program and also later Reading Rainbow. 

Neither myself or anyone in the family talked baby talk to them. By the time our daughter was in Kindergarten she could easily read the King James bible. 

Now if you spend a lot of time teaching your child you may find that when she goes to school she will be more advanced than the other children in her peer group. Then either you, the teachers, the school system(all of you) will have to address the boredom issue. I would do it all again the way I did with maybe more field trips, more musical instruments, more microscope wonders and more physical exercise for all of us. 

Our son developed skills/learning at a different pace but at 3rd grade tested at post HS in Math. This really helped us down the road when he was offered and accepted a full scholarship inc. room and board and meals at a university. Seeing any child learn (and delight in learning) and advance is a privilege but especially when they are your own.


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## fellini123 (Feb 2, 2003)

Our grandson is 3, he is due to start pre-kindergarden next year. In order to be enrolled he has to know his ABCs, to count to ten, his full name and the full name of mom dad and any siblings, primary colors, shapes and address.
I thought those were all the things they learned in pre-kindergarden. Oh well what did I know. Our DD has "school" with him for a 1/2 hour a couple of times a day. He thinks it is quite fun. He has a "book" and big crayons that he brings for school. 
Oh P.S. He has a little brother, 8 months old, I kno he is very young but he is interested in what his brother is doing. He will watch him and try and grab the crayons. Something tells me he will learn quickly!!

Alice in Virginia


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## Taylor R. (Apr 3, 2013)

We used the Handwriting Without Tears app with my kiddos back when they lacked fine motor skills to encourage writing their letters, either on our phones or my kindle fire. They use the touch screen to write their letters, which seemed a little easier than trying to maneuver a writing utensil. However, there's no need to get antsy at this point in her development. She seems to be a bright, voracious learner and I doubt you'll have any issues. Kids are being asked to learn those basics earlier and earlier, but I don't think it is necessarily indicative of long-term success whether they learn them at 2 or at 5, so no worries!


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## CuriousWanderer (Feb 23, 2014)

DD doesn't like the big crayons so she uses the normal sized ones. 
I was thinking I would make some traceable letter sheets and laminate them for her to practice if she wants. Thank you all for the advice and encouragement


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## JamieCatheryn (Feb 9, 2013)

Fingerpainting or drawing indentations with a finger in sand, cornmeal, something like that is easier for younger kids to "write". I'd try not to focus on the academic stuff much yet, I know you are proud and want to support her learning it but I can tell you already recognize she has a wide variety of areas to learn and explore.


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## Ohio dreamer (Apr 6, 2006)

What Jamie Catheryn said!! 

Also, read - read - read to her!! Use your finger as you read so she see's where your words are coming from. There is a chance that doing that might just teach her to read over the next few years......that's how I learned. My son also "picked up" reading by sitting next to me while I read to him. My daughter, on the other hand, did not pick it up that way.....she learned to read the more traditional route. So not all kids will pick it up that way....all kids' brains are wired differently.


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## Rick (May 10, 2002)

JamieCatheryn said:


> Fingerpainting or drawing indentations with a finger in sand, cornmeal, something like that is easier for younger kids to "write". I'd try not to focus on the academic stuff much yet, I know you are proud and want to support her learning it but I can tell you already recognize she has a wide variety of areas to learn and explore.


ding ding ding ding ding


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## Rick (May 10, 2002)

Maybe set up 3 yellow fruit, 6 yellow cups, 4 red fruit, 2 red peppers - fun things to build her association of numbers, colors and items.

Pictures of simple things like cat, dog, cup, hat, tree - and the words on a card to place under the picture? 

Soon she will enjoy playing teache and setting up "school" for you!

Enjoy her innocence and quest to learn.


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## Rick (May 10, 2002)

Ohio Dreamer is so right! Read, and sing songs.


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## FakeMountainMan (Jul 9, 2014)

My wife has been getting the younger kids these Kumon learning books that are helpful for dexterity skills. Some of them have the kids folding or cutting and pasting, Others have them drawing lines or solving simple mazes. The pictures are cute and the kids enjoy them when they get to do 'school' like the big kids.

eta link
http://www.amazon.com/First-Book-Tr...d_sim_b_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=085JZYBN84YHWBMK02WT

This is one of the first ones she had them do.


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## TerriLynn (Oct 10, 2009)

Lots of good advice already. If she already recognizes her letters, start working on letter sounds.....when your reading her a story ask her to find all the a's on a page or all the b's etc.

As for writing, you can put shaving cream on a table, let her help you smoosh it all out smooth and then she can use her finger to draw her letters or whatever else she would like. Some kids love the fact that its messy, but others have that "ick" reaction. You can also do this with a cookie sheet of rice, and let her draw in that with her finger.

If you want to develop her fine motor skills, try letting her color a bit with some small pieces of broken crayons.....I worked with an OT (occupational therapist) at my kids elementary school, and she said smaller writing utensils were better for this.

Something else the OT did was use a Light Bright. The kids had to push the pegs into the holes....great way to develop fine motor skills. Or we would pick up things with tweezers (big tweezers) and drop them in a bucket.

I know you said letters are her thing right now, but I was just listing what came to mind first....she may be a little young for some of these things..we worked at the kindergarden and young 5's level.


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## Maura (Jun 6, 2004)

Musical instruments. You can start with a wooden spoon and a pot. Fisher Price makes wind instruments with large mouth parts so they can&#8217;t get hurt. A little xylophone is fun. 

I don&#8217;t think letter recognition or even writing letters and her name will bring her ahead of the class. Most kids are in day care and are learning in day care what we learned in kindergarten. Now, if your child is reading at a 2nd grade level when he enters kindergarten, you will need to talk to his teacher about this. She needs to be with her peer level and not skip grades, but some schools will move a child into an older class with just a certain subject or two. Some schools, if large enough, can separate the higher readers into their own reading group, but otherwise keep them with their class.


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## FarmFamily (Feb 12, 2014)

You can find the big fat pre-school pencils. Those are easier to handle. Teach her how to trace her hands and feet for now. That will help her get control. Coloring will do wonders. Buy her some ABC magnets for the fridge. She's a baby....encourage her love for learning but don't sweat it. It will all come together with time. Are you planning on homeschooling? Sounds like you are going to have a little one who thrives on study. Look into the Charlotte Mason method. May be a good fit for your little one in a few years.


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## RubyJane (Apr 23, 2014)

FakeMountainMan said:


> My wife has been getting the younger kids these Kumon learning books that are helpful for dexterity skills. Some of them have the kids folding or cutting and pasting, Others have them drawing lines or solving simple mazes. The pictures are cute and the kids enjoy them when they get to do 'school' like the big kids.
> 
> eta link
> http://www.amazon.com/First-Book-Tr...d_sim_b_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=085JZYBN84YHWBMK02WT
> ...


My kids did Kumon for years at the Kumon Centers...so cool that they have these books now!


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## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

Playing with Play-doh builds hand muscle and dexterity. So does putting Legos together.


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## CuriousWanderer (Feb 23, 2014)

Thank you all for the great responses! With the back to school sales we picked up lots of crayons and colored pencils and she is now working in tracing different shapes and objects. She has already greatly improves over the past week. 
She does play with her playdough at least once a week and her Legos seem to always be out, my poor feet can attest to that! We also read all the time. At least an hour total each day. We have been going to the library every week and enjoying a storytime there before checking out our books. I love how much she absorbs and seeing how she learns. She certainly keeps me on my toes! We also just started her with some riding lessons each week, she is in LOVE with her little pony.


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## Daydreamer7102 (Mar 23, 2012)

Bright little girl. One thing my son used to like was using the computer and typing letters. I'd just open a word document or whatever for him and make the font size big. She might like that. Not as a replacement for working on writing skills though. Enjoy her!


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