My 20 month year old can recognize most of the letters of the ABC's??

Question

Shes getting them right at about 80%, she will read the letters off of our tee shirts, ect..Is this normal? My 4 year old is only getting about 20% of them right, but she has always seemed a little behind her peers. How old do kids usually start recognizing letters on paper and telling you what letter it is?

Answer 1

Each child learns in their own time, in my house all three of my children were recognizing letters by the time they were your childs age--maybe not at 80% but enough that two of my three children were reading by the time they were three years old, the third could not even talk till two and a half.

The best thing you can do for both of your children is continue to work with both of them, encouraging their successes and encouraging all of their attempts. the more you do this the more they will learn and retain. Also may be change up your letter games to include homemade or store bought games(not electronic ones)to further encourage their interest.

The very best thing you can do for further encouragment is to be sure to read to them as much as you can. be sure to include both easy readers (like the bob books) and picture books, and even books that are longer and you can use to read at night so they can listen while they go to sleep (try ones like charlie and the chocolate factory, charlottes web--ones with very few or no pictures--so they dont have pictures to look at)

And as one of the other responders stated, be sure that when it comes time for your child to go to school (preschool or reg kindergarten) be sure you get her into a program that will take into consideration all of her talents.

Answer 2

Send that kid to a special baby college with astrophysics sandwiched in between diaper change and naptime. It will help if they allow sippy cups in the classrooms.

HAAHAHHAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAA!

This does sound a little weird and something to consider a blessing about your baby. One word of advice though...is don't make too big a deal of it. Of course you will want to stimulate your child as she grows but don't make it the end all be all.

Your child will still be her own age, no matter what. Make sure you don't set her up to advance beyond her years with regard to social and emotional development, as well as normal childhood milestones like potty training, losing the binky etc. Even academically, your child may still enjoy age appropriate activities like coloring, fingerpaints, puppets, etc. Many typical things we associate with age like this are not only academic but things like motor skills.

Also don't set this up as the only way she gets attention. Let her relax instead of drilling all the time about reading, or making a big fuss over the academic skills and not about other things.

Don't set it up as a situation that will shame the other child if the younger one passes her up. This would certainly be unintentional but the jealousy could be inevitable so it will be good to recognize it.

Something to remember is that talented and gifted children are every bit as qualified for special education services as those who are lagging behind. If she continues to advance, she will need extra challenging material to keep her stimulated or else you will have a little evil genius or a bored junior high dropout on your hands. She WILL find something to keep her brain busy, it is better that you and the school designate what that is, than to have her wander off academically and find trouble.

A related point is that if your child can read way beyond her years, or is otherwise more perceptive, you will need to take a lot more precautions to protect her from age inappropriate things. Not that written language is the only way we disguise adult topics for small children (such as talking about S-E-X) but it seems they might be more curious, treated as more mature, and stumble into territory that is beyond their years. They will be vulnerable in many ways of growing up wayyyyy too fast.

So I guess my best suggestion is to do what you can to stimulate her intellectually without letting it overtake her childhood. And do your best to recognize your children for their character, their efforts, and talents, so they both develop healthy self-esteem.

Check out the movie Little Man Tate for dilemmas about talented and gifted children. Very well done.

Answer 3

Usually what happens is the youngest picks up what you are teaching the older one. The young ones tend to pay more attention when your time is with the other one so they can be involved and not feel left out. Every child develops on there own time and I would say good for you if she is getting that many rite.

Answer 4

This is not normal. You should take your child to a young academy or very good babysitter school. You have a prodigy on your hands!
As for your 4yr old daughter that is very normal. She just needs a little time. Some kids start recognizing words when they are in the 1st or 2nd grade! Good Luck!

Answer 5

i was doing that when i was about her age, and im normal. (well u know what i mean lol) i started reading at a very early age and still love reading to this day so perhaps thats what will happen to her. as for your four year old, thats exactly how my older brother was, and he is excelling at Hamilton College right now :-)

Answer 6

You may want to search hyperlexia. Some children develop reading very early and fluently however struggle in other areas. If all areas are ok, no concern. If other areas behind, you may want to seek some additional information.

Answer 7

Hi... This is very normal... There is nothing to worry about .. The same happened with me and my elder sister.. she is four years elder to me... when she used to read i got things into my mind faster than her... but now to be frank enough she is smarter and more intelligent than me... so don worry be happy... good luck

Answer 8

your 20 month year old ahead of schedule so to keep her there you need to teach here more and put her the best schools and send her to colleges like Yale, Harvard, pennstate college

Answer 9

its a merical. WOW!