How can I start teaching my daughter colors, numbers, reading, ABCs, etc? She is almost 3.?

Question

I know she will not be perfect at it but I would like to start teaching her things.

Answer 1

She should know those things by now. Read to her, sing the alphabet song, work flashcards with her, let he watch educational videos.

Answer 2

I don't know who thinks your child should already know these things by now but, that is totally ridiculous. There is no reason why your child should need to know these things at this point. She should be playing and learning from playing. Sand and water are the best toys. Cooking with your child and reading to your child are the best activities to do on a regular basis; every day. All the basic academic stuff like colors and numbers and letter are "taught" in kindergarten -- some kids know some by then but plenty don't. I think the guidleine is that kindergarteners should be able to count to 20. Have you sung the ABC song to her? Do you read to her frequently? There are lots of great abc, number, and color books out there. All you need to do is read them to her!! You can get lots of different ones from the library and that will keep it interesting. NO reason to stick with one and make it something she has to memorize. Just read to her for enjoyment and let her have fun with it. If she's not in the mood, do it at another time. If she's bored, try a different book. Don't push it or make it a thing that she can end up resisting -- just have a good time letting her learn. You don't actually have to teach her -- you just have to give her the opportunity to learn. She will do the learning all on her own and that's teh best way. There are number and letter puzzles and games too, which are all doing the same thing. She may like some more than others and it's just another way to have her get familiar with the letters and numbers. Let her play with them and enjoy them when and how she wants to!! Read to her from all the story books you can and as often as you can!!

Answer 3

There are tons of books and flash cards that are good to read to your child on a daily basis. There are educational toys that will help her to sing songs and play games while learning. There are videos and shows on t.v. that teach numbers, letters and colors. Ever heard of a little show called "Sesame Street"? There's TONS of tools out there, just look around. My almost 3 year old can sing his ABC's, count to 10, knows his prime colors in English and Spanish......

Sorry if it sounds rude or judgmental, but she should already have some of these skill by now. I hope you weren't speaking literally when you said, "I would like to START teaching her things." You should have been introducing these things long before the age of 3.

Answer 4

ABC's is easy. Teach her the alphabet song. Colors and numbers are easy too. Just take every opportunity to point out what color something is and how many there are. Instead of "do you see that car?", you ask "Do you see that GREEN car?"
Get it? Don't worry about the reading. That will not come until 5 or 6 most likely. Some start reading before 5, but not many.
Repetition, repetition, repetition....

Answer 5

Burghgirl-- There is no such thing as should know by now. My daughter is almost 4 and is learning her alphabet. She can't count past three. Children learn at different speeds. Most two year olds don't speak well enough to be able to sing a whole song like the Alphabet. That was very disrespectful.

Haylee and I play by having her name objects, or their color. Children learn best by interaction with others. There are many great picture books. Look at your local store for age appropriate learning devices. (My son's favorite toy was an Alphabet Bus by leappad. When you press a letter, it says the name and makes the sound.) Just remember, keep it light and fun, if she thinks you're pressing too much, she won't be interested. Check out the site below for ideas.

Answer 6

I used flashcards for my kids, just do them every day. Consistency is the key, if done daily (even on weekends) you will be amazed at how quick they pick it up.
I would also start with colors and shapes, then once she has those mastered start on numbers and letters, all of them at once might be too much.
Usually when first learning numbers you only go to 10 for recognition, you can work on verbally counting higher with her but for recognition start with 1-10.
You can make your own flash cards with a sharpie and 3x5 cards. I think that is better anyway that way the are not distracted by the pictures.
And with the alphabet say "A apple A" word association works great with kids.


Wow everyone is being so mean, so your kids did it sooner, she is starting now its better than waiting for school to teach her. And the lady whose kid did multiplication at 2, either he is a genius or was never yet allowed to be a kid, yes mine knew it before this age, but letting them play and have time that is not always about learning is just as important.

Answer 7

I used crayons to teach my son the colors and we had workbooks for the little ones that taught them how to write, numbers, colors, about animals and seasons...When my son started kindergarten he was already reading this was about 10 years ago....5th grade he was reading at an 11th grade level I also found music helps and it doesn't have to be classical it can be anything such as twinkle twinkle little star....I was a licensed shild care provider for about 12 years and one of my favorite tools was the Wee Sing Videos they are now on DVD after nap time before going outside I would pop one in everyday....The kids loved them and learned quite a bit from them...a link to Wee Sing...http://www.weesing.com/DVD.cfm

BTW I started with my son when he was a year old he knew all his colors and could sing many songs by the time he was 18 months it's never too early to start....The earlier the better...when they are very young they are like sponges.....I also taught my son spanish and some german with computer games....he started playing on the computer when he was a year old.....

Answer 8

My son is now almost 6. I remember those days. We would read books - Barney has one called Alphabet Soup and we’d play with blocks to work on the alphabet. A is Apple, B is Bat, C is Cat. We’d play games in the car - “what starts with”- then we’d call out a letter and name everything we could think of that started with that. If he’d get stuck- I’d voice the sound of the letter and that would help. For numbers, I worked mostly on saying them- we would just go to 10. My son loved to count backwards from 10- he’d get excited just like the rocket launch- and his PreK teacher was very impressed that he could count backwards. I just wanted to instill in him a love of books and we always had some quiet time everyday where I would read to him. Eventually, I would remain silent and point to a short word and see if he recognized it. He loved the Sesame Street and the Dog Spot books because there was something to flip open, pull up/down on every page. In his PreK class, he was the only one who could read. That wasn’t my intention - I just wanted to spend time with him- it was an added benefit! Also- in the car, we play “tweety”- every time you see a yellow car, you yell it out. A friend told him about that game. He yells loud! And I can’t understand how he spots them so well as he’s at a disadvantage in the backseat in his booster! Sometimes, I’m driving by myself and I’ll catch myself saying tweety in my head every time I see a yellow car. Since DHL came on the scene, the game has really gotten lively.

Answer 9

DO NOT worry about how much she "knows" or "doesn't know" at this age, (no offense, other answerers...) all kids learn different things at different paces, and she's got the rest of her life to learn. (in Waldorf systems they don't even start reading until 2nd grade)
just read to her, if you're not already, sind abc's, count things together during your daily stuff (how many birds do you see there? how many pretzels do you want. lets count them, etc.)
same w/ colors, just point stuff out and talk about it all day long! (look at that red car. what color is your shirt. lets sit in the blue chairs)
go to storytimes and sing alongs at the library/bookstores. once she can sing the ABC's, you can worry about letter recognition. And do not worry about teaching her to read for another year or two at least, and DO NOT feel guilty for "not starting sooner" that's why preschool doesn't even start til 3 and there's two years of it!!
I don't recommend tv unless its minimal and you're there discussing it w/ her. tv is better as a emergency babysitter than an educational tool : )

Answer 10

It is brilliant that you want to be involved! To teach colours why not take her on a colour hunt? Give her a basket and a piece of fabric. Tell her what colour it is and go with her around the house so she can find objects of the same colour to collect, ask her while going around what colour she is looking for and encourage to look at the fabric as she answers so she can ascociate the word red for example with the colour.
You can do the same to teach her shapes except choose a shape, cut it out of card and collect things of that shape.
Use art to further develop colour and shapes, get some shapes that are made out of gummed paper so she can make collages, ask her what she is making and what she is using. This encourages her to remember shapes and see shapes in her environment.
For reading, she may not be ready yet for reading, although I have worked with a child aged 4 with a reading age of 9! Let her learn her alphabet first so she has a foundation to learn words.
www.jollylearning.co.uk
Jolly phonics is a wonderful and fun way for children to learn their alphabet. I work with children aged 3-4 who love doing it and have learnt so much.
Try to ignore those who tell you that your daughter should already know these things and reel off a list of what their amazingly inteligent children can do. Every child develops at their own pace. If you are really stuck then email me and I will help you as much as I can. My email address is on my profile.

Answer 11

My daughter is 2 1/2 and can count to 10, say her ABC's, and knows all her colors. She can identify any object by basic color; blue, red, pink, green, yellow, orange, black, white, brown, purple, etc. She goes to daycare, which I am sure helps. But the way I try to teach her is by using things like wooden puzzles and books. She has puzzles with numbers and the alphabet. And when we read books or do activities, I always ask her what color different objects are. It has worked so far.