My husband’s photo: View from Diamond Head, Honolulu, Hawaii.
Last week, I mentioned to Maria that when she and Lisa turned 2 years of age, they both knew the alphabet, upper and lower case. I had taught them by showing them magnetic letters attached to the refrigerator door, starting from the time they were a year old.
“So, am I a bad mother?” Maria asked. Her son, Rylan, will have his second birthday next month and has never been formally trained to learn the alphabet.
“No,” I replied. “But, it’s not too late to start teaching Rylan now.”
Yesterday, Maria brought a box of upper and lower case alphabet cards, which she had never used with her son. When Rylan took the cards out of the box, he began showing me various letters.
“C,” he said, holding up a card.
Whoa! How did he know that? I think he learned part of the alphabet by watching kid’s shows on television. It is amazing how much my grandson has gleaned from these shows, gradually, bit by bit. His mind is definitely not a sieve. He retains a lot!
The cards that Maria gave me show a letter and a word starting with the letter on one side and a picture of the object on the other side. For example, one card might show A – Apple on one side and a picture of an apple on the other.
After Rylan learns the alphabet, I shall start teaching him phonics. What fun it will be to observe Rylan developing his language skills! Mastering numbers won’t be too far behind!
January 27, 2012 at 7:18 am |
Yea! You’re a good grandma!! My teacher heart soars when I hear of parents, grandparents, and other caregivers taking the time to immerse these little ones in building language skills. Knowing letters is awesome, and reading aloud picture books is one of the most powerful ways of building that deep understanding of language. Good job!!
January 27, 2012 at 7:31 am |
Oh excellent, Gigi! Learning letters and their sounds is very important. Reading aloud to him is also the best thing to do.
January 27, 2012 at 7:49 am |
Hei and thank you for your lovely comment.
I will keep on following your super blog – definitely!
We have snow now, as expected, and it will get veeeery cold next week.
When you want to see more of the pets, you can also visit my dog’s blog: gizdog.blogspot.com! Welcome!
Have a great weekend,
Beatrice from Europe
January 27, 2012 at 10:01 am |
it’s a pleasure to teach kids who are so ready for that! My kids went to Montessori at an early age. Most really do start reading and writing in pre school.
January 27, 2012 at 10:36 am |
It is so fun to watch kids learn.
January 27, 2012 at 11:05 am |
Aren’t kids amazing..they soak it all in….
January 27, 2012 at 1:19 pm |
What a beautiful family you have.
And I wanted to tell you that I am so enjoying the photos from Diamond Head. They are really great.
January 27, 2012 at 5:41 pm |
Oh, do have fun! It is so fascinating watching little children learn.
January 27, 2012 at 6:01 pm |
The advantages of watching Television!! hahahaa… the kids normally learn a lot by watching educational shows but they can also be influenced easily by the violence too… so it is important that we as adults know which to allow them to watch and so forth..
Our kids’ minds are very “blank”… they absorb easily unlike us who are growing old gracefully… hahaha…
January 27, 2012 at 6:35 pm |
Sometimes parents are too busy to spend long hours teaching and playing with their children. So fortunately we grandparents fill the void. I’ve been thinking lately that the world is changing at such a fast pace and everything is so instantaneous, it doesn’t hurt to do simple things that take a long while to complete like crafts. My granddaughter loves the stuff we do together. We made some beaded bracelets together and I noticed she carries them in a pouch and really treasures them. Parents just don’t have time for that stuff.
L. from W.
January 28, 2012 at 1:19 am |
Shows how good Sesame Steet is…and how smart Rylan is!
January 28, 2012 at 3:06 am |
Smart thing to do. Had I had such training, first day of school would not have been a tramatic experience.
January 28, 2012 at 4:28 am |
Excellent. Yes, they learn a lot from TV. Kids are so clever these days it is scary. I bet he knows how to work a cell phone too. Dianne