My daughter is two and a half and she knows the entire alphabet by sight and can say all the letters. She has started to recognize a few words. Is this normal at this age or is she ahead of the curve? I only ask because she has a moderate speech delay but seems to be really picking other things up and I think some of this may help me unlock what her speech hang up might be.
I think I may have needed to add a couple things. We have two sets of flash cards and a set of little cardboard books that have each letter of the alphabet, plus three words that begins with those letters. She knows all of the words when she sees the pictures and says the words (sometimes not very clearly). Trust me this is all her, there are days I would love to burn all of them because we have to read them ten times a day! I just noticed a few weeks ago that she was looking at the pictures then flipping over the card to study the word, that same week she started saying the letters of the alphabet and I was just really shocked. We did have her evaluated and the lady simply told me she had a delay and that basically I had a stubborn child. She is way ahead (according to the specialist) in understanding but has a moderate speech delay. She is too advanced for the early steps and our insurance doesn't cover developmental delays. So we have to wait till she is three and get her re-evaulated. She does talk but usually one word at a time, for example if she needs to potty, then that is what she will say "potty" if she wants cereal then just "cereal". Never anymore I try and get her to try 'Can I have" but it never works.
Somehow I don't think I will turn my daughter autistic, especially since the speech therapist told me to read to her, and that is what we are doing.
Hopefully, she's getting speech services. That will help immensely!
We all have the smartest kids, don't we?!
Seriously, she sounds bright. At 3, when kids typically start pre-school, they are doing all of that stuff. Some know it when they arrive and some learn it as they go.
At two and a half, it is a great accomplishment to recognize the letters of the alphabet, know their sounds and recognize a few words. Keep it fun and active :)
It's not unusual for kids to be ahead on some aspects and behind on others. Eventually it equals out. You mentioned the connection between her apptitude with the alphabet and her speech delay. Could be that she is compensating for one with the other. She wants to communicate. She can't speak the language well yet, but she has figured out that symbols represent things. Maybe she's processing language in the way she is able. In my humble, untrained opinion.
it really doesn't matter whether she's ahead of the curve or not....what matters is that you continue to scaffold her learning! Keep up the good work....& be very careful not to burn her out. Make sure the learning is fun & hands-on, not rote!
She's probably a bit ahead, that's great! Many 2 year olds recognize their own name when they see it, if you work with them they will pick up all sorts of things. You want to make she she knows all her other basic stuff, colors, shapes, numbers. My dd knew her lettters, colors, shapes by the time she turned 2. She started reading right around her 5th birthday and read well when she started school, she is in kindergarten now and is at a 3rd grade reading level. I am obviously very proud of her, but this really doesn't matter that much. She is bored at school and ready to be done already, she is extremely strong willed and stubborn, she is very bossy to her sister and gets in trouble at school from time to time. On the other hand my four year old is very compliant and easy to get along with, has had like 1 fit her whole life and has a great sense of humor. She is still having trouble recognizing a few of her letters and has very little interest in reading and still struggles with saying her r's and ch and sh blends. I am very proud of her too. I wouldn't worry too much about speech at this point, but if you are worried you can have her tested, just keep talking and keep reading to her. You can have her repeat words to her that have the sounds you are concerned about, but her speech is still developing you may notice improvements over time.
my daughter is 28 months old. She can 'sing' the alphabet but does not know the letters even though school works with her as well as I do. My daughter can not figure out colors either (everthing to her is REEEEEED)
We read 2 or 3 times per day to her (plus whatever daycare/school does) and she does not know any words. All the other kids in her class are the same way.
yours sounds ahead of the curve to me. Congrats
I was curious about the answers to your question. My friend's little boy could read at 2, but I think his speech doesn't really match up with this reading ability. He refers to himself as "you." I did come across a condition called hyperlexia. Not sure if that explains it. I found a book on Amazon called "When Babies Read." You can get a preview of the book online and read a few pages.
My son (just turned 3) knew all of the same stuff at 2.5. He also knows all of the letter sounds. I do think it is a little advanced. Are you getting speech? If not, all states offer free evaluation and therapy for kids under 3. In KS the program is called Tiny K and in OK is was called Sooner Start. You could probably get information through your pediatrician.
J.---I really wouldn't worry too much about any perceived speech hang-ups. She is still awfully little and it takes time for muscles to get to the point that they can talk like adults. Some kids are able to say some words earlier than others.
Our youngest son didn't talk very much at all...still doesn't and he is now 20. First, I think with 2 older siblings and a very chatty family, he had trouble getting a comment in here and there. Secondly, he did have a slight stutter so I'm sure he was aware of that. We determined that the stutter was a result of his brain working faster than his mouth could physically. So, I do think that if she is 'ahead of the curve', knowing things like letters and words are a different matter than being able to say all of them.
Just keep an eye on her. I'm sure she is just fine. Be well, D.
A friend introduced us to starfall.com when my son was 2ish. By 2.5 he knew all of his letters, and by 3 he was reading fluently at a first/second grade level (by 4 is was chapterbooks like the magic treehouse & the black stallion). Now... a reading toddler is actually a bit of a pain (well, more than a bit, and I'm a bibliophile)... because reading doesn't just mean BOOKS it means EVERYTHING. Every sign and billboard you pass, all the things printed on magazines, every instruction land warning label (and warning labels read like instructions to toddlers with no impulse control).
That very serious warning out there... the magic about starfall (why it works so well) is that the voices on the letters are *just* as excited about T! Tuh! Tiger! Whoa! Look at his teeth! Whoa! the 80th time that day as they are the 1st. Pan, Ran, Can, Man (the child moves the first letter up to match the picture in the 2nd stage) is *always* thrilled with the child, the song "This is how the short a sounds....ah ah ah ah ah ah the ah cat the ah in rat ah ah ah ah ah the a in can the ah in ran ah ah ah ah ah " never stops to rub their temples. The voices never say "Honey, lets do the B's, shall we?" or "How about we ....". There's never ANY hint that the voices are bored. So the kids do them over, and over, and over, and over. And they giggle and laugh and do what THEY want to do a gazillion times in a row. Which is exactly how children learn.
"We" did starfall for about an hour a day (meaning kiddo sat and clicked t 50 times in a row laughing while I read a book/ did the dishes/ etc). It was the only hour of peace I got all day (adhd household). Anyhow... if flashcards are driving you nuts, and you're willing to deal with a reading toddler.. check out starfall.
It sounds within the normal range to me. I think most children learn their alphabet between ages 2 and 4. Early interest in letters and numbers can be a sign of 'giftedness' but generally only if other signs are present as well. Good luck with the unlocking!
Stop exercising that part of the brain! Stay away from cognitive functions when the functions below are delayed. What happens is those children turn into high functioning LD or Asperger kids. Push EI to take her NOW!!!
J., my son is also two and a half and looks to be just where your daughter is with knowing the whole alphabet and a few words, and he even recognizes signs of places, etc. I always thought he was also a bit advanced. I'd be curious to hear from others too.
L.
She sounds like a pretty smart kiddo with a ambition to learn! My son, now 4, was the exact same way. When he knew shapes (even what a trapezoid and rhombus were!) and a whole list of colors at barely 2 years old, I was beside myself. He didn't say more than 2 words until he enterd speech therapy at 25 months old. I feel that because his expressive language was behind, he was really compensating by learning all other aspects of his environment. His cognitive abilities were far ahead of his expressive abilities. I guess you can say he was a sponge absorbing everything around him!
Are you worried about her speech? Have you considered early intervention? It was the best thing we did for our son. He is almost entirely caught up in speech with his peers and still has a passion to learn!
Good luck to you!
I think that's normal, maybe a little early. My son is almost two and knows most of the alphabet letters. No printed words yet, though. I think recognizing printed words that young is early.
I think it's very common to mistake speech delay for language delay. If she understands you and it's just her pronunciation that's an issue, it's speech and not language. Your ped can recommend an assessment but at that age I don't think they even fret about speech issues.
There is a federal Early Steps program that can help with speech delays if you're worried about it. I think it's either free or sliding scale, if that's an issue for you. They'll identify what delay is speech and what is language. It's also worth it to get her hearing assessed again, perhaps. Check into Early Steps. A lot of doctors don't like to intervene so young, since she is probably well within the normal range of development. However, helping her communicate will help both of your lives, so I say go for it. My friend had a nearly nonverbal 2 year old, and although they said not to worry unless he didn't talk when he was 3, she really wanted to get things moving and she did get help for him. I told you that because you might meet some resistance, but if you feel strongly enough about it you should go for it.
my daughter knew all that stuff also by 2. i worked really hard with her while i was pregnant since i knew i'd be having to slack off some after i had the baby. my son (now 4) didn't know anything until he started preschool at 3. i tried to work with him, but he had no interest at all. there was another boy in his class who knew everything, plus the sign language for it! well, my son is now 4 and is reading as well as a mid year kindergardener, and better than some 1st graders i've seen! and the other boy is just as smart, very well spoken, but not reading. (oh, and my son has a speeck development problem also. they couldn't give him speech therapy though, because he could be understood 80% of time while saying the words singly back. but when he talks in sentences, he's very hard to understand).
Is she getting therapy for her speech delay? Maybe the speech therapist can shed some light. Lots of speech delays have no known cause. Knowing all her letters is advanced but if you guys read to her a lot and you focus on this skill then its not surprising though. The preschool told me at age 3, most kids regognize about 5-10 letters. Does she know any of her numbers? What about shapes and colors? Its nice that she knows her letters but unless she is advanced (or very behind) in other areas too, its not really out of the ordinary.
I don;t think its either insanely head of the curve or normal.....many kids do, nonetheless i think she sounds smart, congrats....
