I was hoping at this point shed be settling down enough to read books or play flash card games. She's been walking since 9 months so she's been mobile enough to check out every inch of our house yet that's what shed rather be doing instead of sitting and playing anything. Her most favorite toys ate anything you can push around like her toy school bus. I've never had or been around a child this young so I'm unsure if there's more I should be doing. I feel guilty just sitting under a tree while she drives her school bus around theyyard but that's what she loves to do so let her do it. But in my head at 17months we should be doing some daycare 'type' activities like learning colors but she's just not into it. Maybe its cause she's still a bit to young developmentally? Or maybe I need to set a firm schedule and have her try these new activities? Thank you and I appreciate any thoughts and personal experiences shared.
Like I said this is my 1st chid. I know she's doing fine she's very active and talkative. I just was unsure as a mother should I myself be doing more. We do a lot of busy activities together like laundry and such. But since she seems more advanced than other babies her age... I don't know. I just never wanna look back and say crap I didn't know I was supposed to be doing that or introducing this or that at this age. So thanks to those who weren't rude in your response I appreciate. It makes asking these 'dumb' questions easier.
She's a baby.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_development_stages
This is a very basic guideline of what to expect by months of age. But there are many helpful books you can read as well.
At 17 months, not wanting to sit for flash card games, and wanting to play by herself is completely normal.
They grow up so fast, no need to rush it!
:)
Just let her be a baby. This is what most 17 month olds do. No need for flash cards now. there is plenty of time for that later.
I'm figuring this is your first child, right? One thing I would stress is "age-appropriate expectations." Extremely important concept for parents, and one you need to learn about . Get some good books about child development that list the stages for each age and you'll find that at 17 months they just aren't ready for flashcards, books or color activities. And she won't be ready for any of that for a long time yet, so relax and stop pressuring yourself to do anything as dry as flashcards with her just yet.
They ARE ready to explore, explore, explore with hands and feet and eyes and ears. So do things her way -- if she wants to push around things, find more things she can push around, and be sure she has plenty of safe spaces to do it so you are not constantly saying "No, no" -- she needs to hear yes, not no, when there is not safety involved. Get her stimulating toys that have more than one function or more than one thing to manipulate, pull open and then shut, etc. She may love to start fitting the square thingy onto the square peg and the round one onto the round peg -- you don't have to tell her constantly that those are "square and round" to teach her; her brain will start to figure that out without the labels. Same for colors. When you hand her something just say, "Here's the red chicken!" and eventually she'll know that red is that color on that chicken.
DO read to her a lot. Let her turn the pages (even if she turns backward or to the wrong page). Run your finger under the words as you say them, every time. She will begin to connect the sounds you're saying with those squiggles on the page. Do talk to her all the time, too. About anything, even the news of the day. She doesn't have to understand every word, but she does need to hear speech all the time. When you're out at the coffee shop with her, point to the word "Starbucks" and say as if to yourself, "S, Sssstarbucks, S" while you touch the S. Do it as if you're saying it just for yourself -- that used to get my daughter's attention, if I seemed to be "learning" the letters and not always just forcing her attention onto them!
If you "set a firm schedule and have her try these new activities" like flashcards and "day care type activities" you will only frustrate her and put her off such things early on. Right now, play IS her learning.
Again, get some good books on development and seek out books with ideas for how parents can use play -- not academic types of work -- to help kids learn as they play.
My daughter got letters and numbers and colors etc. pretty early and I didn't really do anything formal, but I did do a lot of "You put the green ball in the basket and I'll put this blue ball in the basket!" and talking and talking and reading and reading to her.
What she is doing is normal. You don't need to have her sitting down and doing flashcards. Just talk to her while she plays. Say things like "Your fire truck is red, but your school bus is yellow." or "Your blue ball is bigger than your red ball." Playing is how young children learn. There is lots of time for flashcards when she is older.
Sounds normal to me and it's great that she's independant. Means she is secure. If she needs you she will come to you. Right now she is having fun exploring on her own. Do not sit down with flash cards - boring! Talk about the colors of the world around when walking. My kids would not sit still for longer than say a 5 minute activity till much older. She is learning by doing. The sit still school work will come sooner than your think. Now let her learn at her own pace.
Your daughter sounds perfectly normal. She's ONLY 17 months old. I know you were hoping she'd be a bookworm "by now" but you can't really mold or force a personality type on a baby. You can't force an interest. She'll develop the interest when she's ready as long as you make sure she has access to books. You can make books part of her bed time routine and a quiet time routine, especially if she's not a napper.
She's busy. She's so very busy learning about her world on her terms and she's having fun. Don't underestimate that she's using all of her senses. When they're this little they learn through rote memory because they can't sit and take notes... so they have to memorize what they hear and see. Why do you think they do the same things over and over again? Or taste the same foods over and over again before deciding if they like it or hate it?
I would personally help her develop her speech by talking to her, singing with her, etc. while she plays. Play with her so that you can interact with her. The more speech she learns, the better her receptive AND expressive language will be and then the easier it will become to get her to sit still for brief periods of time for calmer activities. But you can teach her colors and names for objects and sing the alphabet song and other teachable songs with her while playing or in the car. There are some great CD's and tapes for the decks in the car. Even simple nursery songs are great for learning.
Please google children learn from playing or some other form of those words.
Kids have to have a lot of play time or they don't learn basic skills. She needs to play for hours and hours. Playing on her own is wonderful. A lot of parents aren't as lucky as you, they basically have to entertain their child all day and can't do anything.
http://www.google.com/search?q=what+do+children+learn+fro...
That is barely over a year old!! Sorry, this will probably come out wrong but are you crazy!!! That is perfectly normal for a one year old child!
If you enjoy fighting and teaching her to fight go ahead and develop a schedule. Personally I would let her be a baby. My kids turned out fine.
Oh, I imagine your daughter is doing fine. In fact, there's a clause in the fine print of the contract of the Seventeen-Month-Olds Union that states that children that age should never sit still. (Yes, I'm joking.) There's a lady at my church who brings her toddler granddaughter on Sundays, and there's another one who NEVER is still. Literally. Unless she's sleeping.
Books on child development can be very helpful. The trouble is that the babies don't read them, so they often don't do things the way the books say. Right now it appears that your daughter is interested in physical activity. That's fine! Some time down the road, she'll be interested in colors and letters and such. Children are not interested in everything all at the same time - they vary their focus, and it has to do with their development at a particular time.
So don't worry. If you worry anyhow, give your pediatrician a call. Doctors love to explain things to mamas.
Gosh, please find a book and familiarize yourself with what should be expected at each age. She won't interact/play with others for maybe a year or two. The Happiest Toddler on the Block has a great diagram of toddlers' activity levels at age 2 vs age 4. Earlier they are just all over the place. Most 1.5 to 2 year olds won't focus on activities for a couple of years!
She is normal. she needs to move and explore she is learning so much as she moves and explores.
she is not anywhere near ready for structured learnign activities.. my son was in a toddler room at day care till he was 3. they played. there was a craft which the kid could choose to do or not... they did read stories and sing songs..
do you sing to her/ most kids will listen and learn from songs.. play music dance..
teach her nursery rhymes..
at 3 .. they start to sit and listen but not for long..
you still read to them even if they are moving around.. they hear and learn.
She is acting perfectly normal for her age. I agree with finding a book on child development to help understand what is expected at different ages. Most children aren't ready to learn colors, reliably, until they are almost three years old. And, kids learn the most by actively playing, so let her play.
Hit the library or bookstore for "what to expect the 2nd year" - it'll help you feel more relaxed. Really, at this age, what you should be doing is just being with her and showing her the world. You can talk to her about colors when you're out. You can talk about numbers when you're out walking. Just observe the world and give an ongoing narration. Or talk to/with her about what she/you are doing. She'll absorb it all.
She's a baby! won't settle down to read a book, or do learning activities for a quite a while. DD didn't start that until at least 4 or 5. And that's okay. Your baby has plenty of time to learn all she needs to know.
It sounds like maybe you should get involved in some "Mommy & Me" type classes, like Gymboree, or some city classes. Maybe join a play group or make frequent park or library outings so she can be mobile & play with other kids & socialize.
You can read to her, point out colors, shapes, letters, numbers, and that's really all the learning she needs right now.
You're doing fine, and it sounds like she is doing great!
My granddaughter is 18 months old and this describes her to a T. This is normal behavior! I urge you to read up on child development. You can do so on the computer. Just Google child development, toddler.
She doesn't talk yet. How is she to tell you names for colors? They learn these things in preschool which isn't for another year or two.
My grandchildren, who are now 9 and 12, never did like flash cards. As others have said babies learn so much more just by exploring, playing, and having us talk and read to them. Even in preschool they do not have the kids sit and learn with flash cards. The kids are encouraged to actively play without much quietly sitting in a classroom setting.
You can be teaching her colors while she's outside pushing her school bus around. The bus has a color; the grass has a color; the leaves have color. She is way to young to sit down and have a lesson like in school, but every minute of a 17 month old's life can be a teaching moment!
Remember the commercial where the woman is doing her laundry and talking to her baby about how to put pants on? Teaching moment!
I may be reading this wrong, but it sounds like you're wanting to do some sit-down school type thing with her. She doesn't need that at her age, yet you can be teaching her things like colors, alphabet, simple math just as you go about your daily activities. As she drives her school bus around the yard, talk with her about the 'yellow' school bus. Find other items and talk about their colors too. See 'two' pretty birdies sitting on a fence and talk about them. Take a walk around the block. Point out what various signs say. For instance, when you see a stop sign point out that it says 's-t-o-p' and talk about what that means. If possible, give her a little bit of freedom to run ahead of you (not too far). Give her a pre-set goal to run to and teach her to stop at that goal until you catch up. Then give another goal and do the same. "See the pretty red car up ahead? Run to it and stop and wait for me there." We found that on our streets there are yellow 'dot' grids every so often. The children loved using those as their goal lines. An interesting mailbox is another, or a unique tree or signpost. This gives her good exercise while learning concepts in a natural way.
Oh! I almost forgot one of our favorites. When our granddaughter was your child's age, some apartment buildings were being built in her neighborhood. My husband would walk her to that area and talk with her about all the machines that were at work and what each on was doing. I think her favorite big equipment machine is still the backhoe eight years later.
It isn't so much how we teach them as it is that we do teach them and doing it in a natural daily routine way is so much better at this age.
