my son is 2 and has the attention span of a mouse...?

Question

as in short as hell. What should I do, Iam trying to teach him the alphabet and he just laughs and spazes out...any advice???

YET..he knows what an engine in a car is, tires and all that stuff....what gives???

Answer 1

He is only 2. I have a 2 and a half year old and we are concentrating more on his muscle strength and hand eye coordination.

He will play and build with blocks for at least an hour and half. Not only is he developing fine motor skills he is getting creative with using his own imagination.

He has also recently got into playing with Play-doh and that is also another good fine motor skill development. And again he uses his imagination. My husband and I sit with him at least an hour at a time playing with play-doh and he never looses interest.

He also plays with his train track at least 30 minutes at a time all by himself. He will also draw and color a whole lot.

Doing all of this we know his strength and his weakness....and he is even starting to speak/talk more. And we also know that he is right handed.

The ABC's and 123's (although with building with blocks my 2.5 year old can count to 4 by himself.) will come later at around 3.5 years old to 4 years old or he might learn them before then.

There is more to being prepared for school than knowing your ABC's. Teacher really look at fine motor development.

His attention span will grow in time.....also don't pressure him to learn make it a FUN learning.

Answer 2

A two year old's attention span is very short. Your son is not doing anything that isn't age appropriate. Two is still very young to teach the alphabet. Celebrate the fact that he's right on track with where he should be - a devilishly funny, spazzy ball of wonder and energy. Having worked with and then having my own, I can tell you that teaching at this age is more about playing. If you're really bent on teaching him, an idea you could use would be to take letter blocks. Show him an "A". Say, " A, A, A, A." What is this??? A!!!!!! Hooray for A!" then clap. Now take out 2 more blocks - maybe just colored ones. Now put the red block, the green block and the "A" block in front of him and say in a silly voice..."Where's the A?" If he doesn't respond then say, "Is it the green one?" and then in a very silly voice say, "Noooooooooooo." "Is it the red one? Noooooooooooo. Is it the one with the A on it? YES!!!! A!". Then you could take the same block just put them in a different order and repeat. But that's it. No more letters. Work slowly. The other thing is to learn the alphabet song, if he doesn't already know it. That's always a fun song - and you can really ham up the ending. "....next time won't you sing with MEEEeeeeEEEeeeeeeee!". Think short, sweet and silly and you can't go wrong with a two year old!!

Answer 3

There was a show once where several 2-3 year old boys were shown a large stuffed elephant that would trumpet and move it's tail every 15 seconds when the boys sat in a certain chair. The boys could only sit still in that chair long to make the elephant go once or twice, even though they knew that was all they had to do. The point is that your 2 year old does have the attention span of a gnat, and that's just the way they are. Keep learning sessions very short and fun, and he will pick it up soon enough!

Answer 4

He's two. What can I say? Toddlers are busy busy busy. They have lots to do. Try dancing with him or patty cake to the ABC song. Either that or learn in sections. Come up with half a dozen alphabet games to play with him. He's going to get bored easy, so have something new and fun to turn to when he does.

Best of luck, I promise the spazzing out thing won't last forever. Somewhere around 3 to 4 he'll love to lay on his bed and have you read to him!

I just wanted to add something here. Don't let someone tell you he's too young to learn the alphabet. Just don't get disappointed if he doesn't. Kids are sponges. The more you expose them to the better off they'll be. My dad had me reciting my ABC's when I was 18 months old. Granted he said most the letters sounded jus alike, but he would say them while he rocked me at night, I would repeat them back to him. Just in case you all think I'm full of it. I taught my 7 year old how to mutiply today! Cool huh? He can't do bigger numbers, but we've been through every single problem with numbers up to5 today. With a bit of work I bet I could send him back to school after the break mutiplying numbers up to 10, in his head might add. You're little boy is a sponge too. You're teaching him his ABC's, he's lucky to have such a mom!

Answer 5

RELAX and don't worry about it. 2 is quite young to be teaching him the alphabet. His short attention span is VERY normal as he has a lot to learn in this relatively brand new world, so he jumps from one thing to another very quickly. If you watch closely, you'll find he is the best mimic of what you say/do that you ever saw! When he is older, he'll learn the alphabet, especially if you read to him a lot (right now, VERY short, 1-2 word/page picture books.)

Answer 6

Let me tell you. I raised my three daughters and now am raising the youngest daughters 2 children. One is a little boy who is 3 years old. I wish he had the attention span of a mouse. If we are wrestling or playing outside, he never wants it to end. If I have him in the house and trying to teach him something, he last a few minutes. Then he starts making weird noises at me and laughing. He is a nut job and a half. I have decided to put him in a preschool next year and let the professionals take care of it. I start laughing at him and that just makes him worse. I know I shouldn't but he cracks me up.

Answer 7

Just let him play. He's only two. He will learn what he needs to when he's five. Don't make him grow up too fast.

He may also sense your frustration and just be messing with you. Kids are pretty smart.

Try reading to him a lot. Let him pick the books and read and reread them until you've memorized them.
When you wash hands with him, sing the alphabet song. By the time you get through singing the ABCs it is time to rinse the soap from his hands. Benefits: clean hands and learns the alphabet.

Answer 8

My daughter is two and hubby and I joke that she has the attention span of a gnat:)

Make learning the alphabet fun for your son. You might try this. My daughter loves Play Dough so I made a Play Dough learning station for her. The station includes the Play Dough, a mini rolling pin, and small alphabet cookie cutters I won on eBay. I help her roll out the dough with the little rolling pin and then call out different letters for her to cut out using the cookie cutter. Sometimes I use the Play Dough to make letters and have her tell me what they are and then attempt to recreate them herself. She's learned quite a few letters that way.

Hope that helps:)

Answer 9

Play some sesame street r another educational program for toddlers that teaches letters and numbers in the back ground while he plays with his toys.He will stop and watch once in a while.ol, he is two....he will pick up on it sooner or later, trust me.
My 2 year old knows most of his shapes, colors,can count to 8 and say half of his alphabet.And i didn't teach him all of that just some of it.lol.He gets it from his siblings and television.But...getting them to recognize visually usually takes until about the age six.So don't worry just yet.Give him time.He is still tiny.
Setting a 2 year old down and trying to get him to look at letters and numbers is just not going to really happen.
Try teaching him the alphabet song by singing it to him.When you hand him something .....say what it is then the letter. example.............baby asks for a cup of juice,while handing it to him say...JUICE...J.....JA...JUICE.Make a game of it.Or sing it in a funny and amusing way that will grab his attention.
He will eventually recognize the names and sounds of a few letters.
Again visual recognition is more for pre school age.

Answer 10

What are you expecting... He's two. You can expect a young child to have an attention span about as long as the number of his age in minutes, and that's its longest. Get the hand prints out of his back and ease up. Parental pressure to accomplish skills the child is not ready for handicap the child's learning later on.