2 year old interested in alphabet & numbers...Does he actually know what he is doing?

Question

My son seems to learn things easily like

numbers he can count to 10 and say the alphabet to 'G' and knows colours....also matches pictures like SNAP game..... But does he actually know what he is doing at this age? If so can i do anything to help him learn more things like this?

Interested to know if this is usual as he is my first, we dont go overboard with teaching him these things he just seems to get it.

Serious answers please

Answer 1

totally normal!! My daughter is 2 and knows her alphabet, can count to 14, and knows all letters-capitals and smalls.  She got a fisher price computer for her birthday and soaks up the info like a sponge.  I'm not one of those constant teaching moms either. They love to learn-Period!

Answer 2

It doesn't really matter if he is just repeating things.  That is exactly what this stage is all about.  They are little sponges, everything is sopped up for later use.  My son is 2, he says parts of his alphabet, depending on what part he remembers of that song at any given moment.  He says everything is green but when given a choice of colors he says green and take the green.  

Sing lots of counting songs and the alphabet song, point out new things, talk to him a lot and he will do just fine.

Answer 3

My son was very slow getting these down he is four and still has a little trouble knowing his letters by site.... by my 18 month old knows her color , counts to 20, knows her ABC's, and knows shapes. We have not done anything different with the two she just picks up on things really fast, and she tries to do what her brother does. We have those preschool leaning lesson books and they each do a page or two after lucnh because they want to. Also games like Lucky ducks and hi ho cherry oh work alot with those and they are fun. Its not forcing them to learn its learning thru play. If you little guy is hungry to learn why not teach!! Sounds like your doing great with your first one!

Answer 4

You don't have to go overboard to teach a child, you only have to be aware. I have 3 and I have never made my kids sit down to learn things until they were at 6 years old. My youngest will be three in August and she knows some spanish,can count in english and spanish, she knows her alphabet, she can identify part of her alphabet in writing, she can tell you the sounds of every letter in the alphabet, she knows all her colors, her shapes, and more. I teach her as we go. If she is in the tub then she sings something that teaches her. If you ask her to rythm she will. When she says a word she automaticly rythms with it. May not be real words but she does good. She will say Daddy waddy paddy, or toes nose hose, etc. When I teach her spanish I usually do it going down the road. When I teach her abc's and the sounds we do it in bed at night time, I use her favorite things for the word f (sound) frog, etc. When we count, we walk. We have a lesson for each activity so that when we do that activity she automaticly starts that lesson because she knows to expect it. When we rest during the day we tell stories that we make up on our own. She also does this thing where she colses her eyes and we take turns telling eachother something that is happening so we can "see it". She has a very active imagination. You don't have to pressure a child into things. we learn our colors by playing Eye spy while we wait, wether it be in a doctors office,the pharmacy,etc. We also play eye spy with letters. We use a book and she looks for the letter I tell her and show her, she finds it some where else. Hope that helps.

Answer 5

I think he does know what he is doing. My youngest has a speech delay, and during speech therapy we discovered that he had learned his ABC's even before he could say his own name. I never taught them to him....he learned them by watching shows on PBS. He picked up his colors by watching his sign language DVDs

Answer 6

Kids just pick up everything so quickly at this age.  You do not need to do formal education with them at this age, but you can depending on his attention span.   My oldest son has a great attention span and enjoyed reading books and learning anything.  He knew all of his shapes a couple of months before his second birthday (this includes a parallelogram, diamond, and trapezoid - I'm a math teacher).  Even though he couldn't say the names of them, he would point to the correct shape when asked.   I just bought some posters from an education store and went over them once a day with him.  In no time at all, he knew his colors, shapes, numbers, and letters.  My second son, who just turned 2, doesn't have 1/2 the attention span as his brother, so I have to incorporate more learning time just when I speak to him. He can count to 10 only because every time he washes his hands, I count to 10.   Also, if he asks for, say, a ball, I'll say "B, buh, ball".   This will eventually help him with his articulation and letter sounds.   Whatever you do, don't underestimate what children can do at this age.  All children should be challenged to some extent, and it will surprise you at how much your son is actually retaining.

Answer 7

he might just be copying or playing, but i wouldn't be surprised if he actually knew what he was doing

my 3-year-old sister was learning some of that stuff when she was 18 months and now she can read simple books and count to 50

good luck

Answer 8

It doesn't sound normal (my child was adopted later in life-so I really don't know for sure), but I would definitely encourage the child, without going overboard.  I wish my son enjoyed "school-type" stuff - it would definitely make it easier.  Make sure you read to him a lot.

Answer 9

yes they can. my kids did and they were very interested. They were writing their name at 2 3/4 and could recognise letters and numbers. I didn't drill  it in to them. They had a lift the flap alphabet and number book and I let them open the flap if they could say what letter/number it was. You will know when they lose interest and then stop straight away. That way they will come back and want to know more. My kids are smart kids at 9 but not genius or anything, they were just into learning those things. Some kids are off training wheels at 3. All kids are different and excell in the things they want to learn. It is about keeping it fun and stopping as soon as they want to.