Gifted Toddler- need ideas

[ChloesMommy]

I have a wonderful, sweet, curious gifted 18 month old. I'm not just saying the gifted part. I was tested and gifted myself, and I kno what I have to look forward to, lol. Anyways, I'm looking for some good websites geared towards toddlers. I'm getting burned out on www.starfall.com I'd also like to make a list of things I can do with her throughout the day, because I tend to forget even the simplest things! I know she's young, but she really loves learning things, and I'm just needing some ideas. Thanks everyone!

Lisa
Mommy to Chloe 18 months

[lenswyf]

Here's a website of activities: http://www-personal.engin.umich.edu/~ajdrake/toddler/open.htm

Check your library, too. The children's section in our library has a whole section devoted to homeschooling and childcare, with lots of books of activities for every age.

[jujubnme]

On the computer my ds enjoys the games on Noggin (http://www.noggin.com) and NickJr (http://www.nickjr.com). He also has quite a few computer CDs that he enjoys playing. Some I'd recommend for the 18 mo-2yo range: Dr Seuss's ABC's, Little Critter Grandma and Me.... these are interactive books where you can read them or click on parts of the picture for "surprises," and there are quite a few others of that genre that are equally fun. Reader Rabbit Baby/Toddler and I Spy Junior are great for that age; we've also gotten some of the JumpStart CDs, which ds has liked ok, but weren't his favorites. One that's an oldie but really cute is James Discovers Math. The resellers on amazon.com have it.

For activities, you might want to check out the toddler/preschool homeschooling ideas on Letter of the Week (http://www.letteroftheweek.com/) orFirst School Preschool (http://www.first-school.ws/).

Also, are you aware of Hoagies Gifted Education Page (http://www.hoagiesgifted.org)?

[TestifyToLove]

No offense, but I really think the term 'gifted' is a tool for schools simply to identify children who aren't going to be challenged in the normal classroom setting. Part of the appeal of homeschooling, to me, is that I am meeting each of my children at THEIR level, and not some arbitrarily, pre-determined level based upon their age and their grade. So, really, gifted doesn't have much place nor need in the homeschooling environment.

Rather than looking for 'gifted' programs, simply look for what interests *this* child at *this* moment. If she wants to learn computer skills, then teach her. If she wants to work with science, then give her the chance to get down and dirty in the mud at her age. As long as you are pursuing her interests and she is happy and not feeling pushed, then schooling her is working.

[ChloesMommy]

I totally agree about the term gifted. From what I've read, I've never read anything that encouraged teaching toddlers. Play with them-yes, teach them ABC's- yes, but take time daily to teach them- wait until they're at least 4! I just don't know how else to communicate that my daughter is not the typical 18 month old!

[mrsramjet]

was wondering if maybe shifting from 'ill teach her' to 'she'll learn' might help you.
what are the basic things?
reading.
most kids who learn to read young weren't taught phonics. they usually were read to A LOT. point to the words. show her the sounds. she'll pick it up.
read learning to read type books as they're sequenced to encourage the learning. read REAL books out loud to her to give her really beautiful templates of language and concepts.
my daughter has always had the most gorgeous vocabulary and i'm sure it's because we read heaps to her.
she'd sat at age 3 1/2 "that is just spectacular! i'm delighted to have seen that" because she's absorbed these words in their context.
maths.
basic maths sense is really important.
it's not being able to parrot number facts that shows a true understanding of that. it's understanding how numbers fit together. so seeing numbers used in everyday life is the absolute best way to absorb this. you can't 'get' abstract maths unless this is in place in the head.
count everything you do. speak out loud about things you are adding or multiplying etc and see how much she recalls.
talk out loud when you're shopping about how much something costs. per kilo. how much money you have budgeted for this item. why one thing is better value for money than another.
get some math-u-see or MAB base ten blocks and let her *play* with them. she'll absorb that 'ten of these makes one of those every time' etc. just by stacking them and lining them up and stuff like that.
music.
music helps the brain to develop pathways. the neurons create so many paths between left and right sides of the brain etc. so give her great classical music to listen to. get her some basic instruments like a little keyboard, drums, and bells. let *her* play with the music. things like pitch and rhythm matching are great. moving with the whole body to the music to describe not only beat, but volume and emotion is a wonderful developmental game.
as a music teacher i would discourage starting a particular instrument early on. general musicianship and enjoyment of it is the precursor that is open to everyone and vital to the gifted musician.
science
tell her about life!
explain why the vacuum cleaner makes the noise it does.
explain that the water expands when it becomes ice. that the steam is the water transformed again.
explain
grow a garden and let her see the life cycle.

i think that real life around you has so much to be absorbed and analysed and understood that a truly gifted person can be find so much to be fascinated by it every day. :)
use vocabularly just above what you think she is able to use/understand herself.

hope some of that helps.

[ChloesMommy]

Thank you so much! More, More! LOL! I really really want to do a "learner led" approach, but it's hard when you were a public school student yourself!

[joandsarah77]

You havn't actualy said what your daughter is doing/can do? We might be able to help more if you explain a bit further.I agree with TestifyToLove I would look for things to further were she is at, and what she seems intrested in.
Jo

[ChloesMommy]

She doesn't really like me to read to her, but she *loves* looking through magazines and books. She used to play her 2 pianos, but lately she's more into driving her cars around. She likes to dress up in necklaces and purses, and she's been babbling constantly lately. She likes to color, and she loves the computer! She likes talking on the phone, too. I'm not home with her all day normally (I'm at school for 3-4 hours a day) but I'm off for the summer, and I think I'm kind of excited, and want to take advantage of the time we have together.

[joandsarah77]

I ment more in the way of skills, like for instance if she's gifted I'm asuming she counts, knows shapes, colours and some or all of the ABC's.

Some activities my dd has liked is
water play- I put down a towel and a container of water on the kitchen floor with some objects like a large spoon, a dropper, a couple of milk formular scoops with holes in them ect.

Side walk chalk and water- let her draw outside then give her some water and a large brush to turn it into paint.

Gluing- any pictures she likes in the magazines cut out and let her use some non drippy glue, do you have clag over there?

Play dough-took awhile for dd to get into this, now she loves it.

Painting-we do all kinds. finger painting is great in the bath.

Puzzles- is she good at puzzles? I don't think a kid can have too many of these.

Blocks- great stuff I would get a good variety. Wooden ones, stickle bricks and Duplo. Show her how to roll a car down a wooden block slope and how to make a bridge to drive it under if she's into cars.

Musical instrument- there are all kinds.I have shakers, tamborine, as well as a recorder. Anything can be used.

Dress ups- maybe she would also like some animal ears and tails. My dd loves, loves those.

Books-I would try hard to read to her, even if it's just in short bursts. Maybe try diffrent kinds of books, or allow her a small toy to hold while you read.

[mrsramjet]

joandsarah77 - they're all great activities!
have to add my thumbs up :tu for the water play and the dress ups.
my kids have all absolutely loved them. they are gleaning so much from all of those things.

[ChloesMommy]

One of my LLL leaders taught gifted students in PS, and she is the one that picked up on it before I'd even thought about it. She said a sure fire way to tell a gifted child is that they are generally labled as "too *something*" "too independant" and "too busy" are the two that come to mine that apply to dd. She really hates me holding and reading her books which is how I was trying to teach her colors. Now that I've found out how much she loves the computer, I'm trying to find some sites that have flashcards that will help me teach her. I've just gotten a printer, so I hope that if she sees something print out, it will be "acceptable" to her. (Oh, there's another, "too picky") She's really not into sitting down and letting me drill her with colors and numbers. I think part of the reason she's so unresponsive to me and books, is that while I'm at school, she sits with "grammy" in the rocker, and she brings magazines to grammy and reads them to grammy. Maybe I just need to let her read to me? will that help?

[ChloesMommy]

what is clag?

Thanks for all these wonderful ideas!!

[joandsarah77]

Not many kids want to be drilled at all. :)
If she is gifted she would probably be picking up all those skills I mentioned without being drilled simply from conversation. eg 'Chloe hand me the red block' I find most toddlers are 'too' something or other.
She would probably enjoy some hands on activities to learn these rather then flash cards.

Sorting by colour- you can use blocks, cars, washing, whatever. You can count the objects also.

'Oscar Owls' is a colour and shape game. My dd likes to sort the owls (red, blue, green and yellow) into their 'homes' Corespondingly colourd boards have all squares in the various colours on one side, the other has colour and shapes.

Colour day circle- use a circle made of colourd yarn and find objects the same colour to place inside it.

oh yes :smile 'clag' is a brand of thick school glue over here (Australia :lol) that comes in a bottle with built in brush.

Jo

[TestifyToLove]

I believe we call clag PASTE. Its hard to find here in this day and age. I haven't found it in over a year actually. But, I have found that the new Elmer's glue gel works well.

Honestly, I would NOT drill an 18 monther. I would work hands-on with her. 18 months is simply WAY too young to be expected to sit down and do any type of drill work. And, more than likely a quick learner will DETEST drill work at that age.

At that age, its all about how you present things. Like the PP mentioned, asking for the red block will teach her colors. Lots of hands-on and active movement is what a child this age needs. You can get some math manipulatives, but be sure to let HER choose how to manipulate them. We've got sorting/counting bears with cups, a scale for measurement, tangrams, cuisseniare rods, pattern blocks, lacing cards, a magnetic board with geometric magnets, magnetic gears they can assemble on the front door, a teaching clock, wedgits, wooden block, duplos, lincoln logs alphabet blocks, marbles, dominoes, stacking cups...Hmm, that's what I can think is in the school cabinet currently. My toddlers are allowed to simply pull things out and PLAY with them. I'm often amazed at what they come up with by simply being allowed to manipulate the things on their own. You don't have to get ALL of those things, but that's what we've amassed at this point and what the 2 year old frequently plays with.

18 months is way to little for even things like Candyland and Chutes and Ladders I suspect. But, by around 20 months, my oldest was playing Hi-Ho Cherry-O. With some guidance, you might be able to play that game with her. You might be able to play Candyland, but she'll need LOTS of guidance at her age, and likely won't have the patience to stick with it, even if she were to understand it.

As for books, at 18 months, I'd stick with board books and a few picture books. I bet she would listen to something like More, More, More Said the Baby or Jamberry, less words, stunning pictures with lots of babies and toddlers and movement in the few words used.

[ChloesMommy]

What wonderful ideas!I I really feel like I'm not doing as much as I need to because I don't know what I'm doing! I am a young single mommy and I really feel that I have come a long way from when I started this journey! Where do you guys get your learning toys? I'm wondering where I could find these things for cheap
math manipulatives, sorting/counting bears with cups, a scale for measurement, tangrams, cuisseniare rods, pattern blocks, lacing cards, a magnetic board with geometric magnets, magnetic gears they can assemble on the front door, a teaching clock, wedgits, wooden block, duplos,

what are duplos?

[joandsarah77]

Do you remember Lego? plastic colourd bricks that push together? well Duplo is made by the same people but is much larger. It is expensive so all of mine so far (plus a lot of other things) has been bought second hand. Markets, garage sales, and e-bay. :mrgreen If you buy 'real' Duplo not a cheap imatation they have good resale value. Some cheaper imatations are ok :tu and can be used with the Duplo, others fall apart and are rubbish. :td
Jo

[mrsramjet]

http://www.mfwbooks.com/1_edu_games.htm

http://www.homeschooldiscount.com/mathmanipulatives.htm

onlyu got a sec. :tol

hth

[ChloesMommy]

that's expensive! :hissyfit

Guess I need to send some "knee-mail!"

[milkmommy]

She said a sure fire way to tell a gifted child is that they are generally labled as "too *something*" "too independant" and "too busy"

just a small highjacking.. I had to giggle at this these are the VERY traits in my DD that has my MIL thinking shes "austic" and needs to be instutionlized :rolleyes she even has tons of words just trouble with articulation.

Deanna

[ChloesMommy]

:hug

It's a shame that the very things that make them special, someone else can see as a problem/defect/issue

[TestifyToLove]

Duplos are expensive???? I buy mine in the big tub at Walmart for $10. Over the course of 4 children, I've purchased 3 tubs and simply combine the pieces. Legos can be super expensive for the speciality sets. But, we even get those cheap when we buy the bulk tubs at Walmart (150 pieces for $10). You can find some of the Math manipulatives in the schooling section at Walmart as well. My kids' favorite is the sorting bears and I got them at Walmart for $6. For $40, I got almost all the other manipulatives in a kit together--which is cheap when you consider the box of manipulatives was HUGE. The lacing cards were a bit more, as they are Lauri (foam rather than cardboard). But, I saved up for those. And, the wooden building blocks can be the most expensive but there are ways to reduce that costs. You can find them on sale at Science and School supply stores sometimes. You can make some of your own. And, usually the bulk sets are cheaper.

Mostly, you pick 2 or 3 that you think she'll like the most and you get those. This gives you a good base (and trust me with 1 toddler, 2 or 3 is plenty). Then, as she grows and you get a bit of spare $$, you pick the most important thing you want to add and you buy that.

I didn't start with all of this stuff. I started with the wooden building blocks, one set of duplos and one set of musical instruments...six years ago. I think that was a $50 investment because the instrument set cost me $30. But, I got the first wooden blocks on sale for $10, the duplos for $10 and these days, I could find the musical instruments MUCH cheaper than I did at the time (ToysRUs has a newer line of instruments that you can get individually and all are about the $5-$10 range, so just one or two of those make a good start). The rest has been slowly amassed over years of time as money has been available and out of school funds that are specifically budgetted for school supplies.

[PurpleButterfly]

I totally agree about the term gifted. From what I've read, I've never read anything that encouraged teaching toddlers. Play with them-yes, teach them ABC's- yes, but take time daily to teach them- wait until they're at least 4! I just don't know how else to communicate that my daughter is not the typical 18 month old!


I understand. My ds started talking in short sentences at 6 months, reading at 11 months, and spelling his friends names w/bathtub letters at 18 months. Please know that you're not alone, and that it's okay to relate your dd's special needs in whatever terms you feel comfortable with. My ds is five now and we enjoy what I like to call, "delight-driven learning and roamschooling adventures" - I offer lots of hands-on, adventuresome learning opportunities and follow his cues by watching for the spark in his eye - *that's* when I know we're on the right track.

We spend a lot of time in the library, at bookstores, museums, playing and making our own (mostly educational) games and making crafts. One thing I did when ds was your dd's age was to create a home-learning Montessori environment. We toured two local Montessori schools and I got TONS of great ideas, which I then implemented at home. I encourage you to explore this and have fun together! :)

:hug

[PurpleButterfly]

I also wanted to add that you can make most everything you'll need, and it doesn't have to be costly at all. :)

http://forums.atozteacherstuff.com/showthread.php?threadid=5379

http://www.first-school.ws/theme/hometoys.htm

http://www.montessorimom.com/?Supply_Cupboard:Art_Supplies_-_Free

http://www.stretcher.com/stories/00/000821i.cfm

http://www.montessorimom.com/artrecipe.html

Be sure to send for a free Montessori N' Such catalogue - they're very affordable but most importantly, you can get great ideas to implement using your own inexpensive items from around the house or the thrift store (another great resource for educational goodies).

http://www.montessori-n-such.com/

[ChloesMommy]

The thing that I thought was expensive was the math blocks - $25. That's alot for me right now!

[ChloesMommy]

I think part of my issue is that I feel like I'm not doing enough for her, kwim? That I'm hindering her.... :: sigh

[TestifyToLove]

See, that's the thing. At her age, its all about working with her and helping her PLAY. Life is play at her age, and playing is the most important job she can do.

So, like I said, you pick just 2 or 3 of the 'educational' type toys that seem most important to you. You start with those and you let her PLAY with them. Then, as she gets bigger, you just add little by little.

And, in our case, we strictly forbid electronic toys, so we don't have anything that I consider distracting in the house. The toys they play with all day ARE teaching them, whether they know it or not.

Going to a yard sale and putting together a dress-up box (which MIL did for dd for Christmas one year) is cheap but educational at her age. A little kitchen set, a dollhouse (we really like the Little People stuff but you can find most of that at yard sales much cheaper than buying them new), or just about ANYTHING is learning for such a little girl. Help her make cookies and talk about what you are doing. She can learn life skills, pre-math and social skills AND she gets a yummy treat for it. Take a tupperware and fill it with water, hand her some measuring cups, spoons and if you've got one a funnel. Most of that is from your kitchen. But, she'll be entertained for hours AND she'll learn too.

You can get (or make) a small aquarium and get a goldfish. She'll learn life sciences by observing her goldfish. Or, take her on walks through the nieghborhood, same thing.

Take her to the library and let her pick colorful picture books. Read some there, and take some home to read as well.

Let her help you with the chores around the house. She'll learn responsibility, life skills and self-confidence altogether. Again, you are teaching her.

Take her for a hike at a state park. You'd be amazed at what children can learn going for a hike.

The point is that EVERYTHING is learning at her age, and ALL learning comes through PLAY. It seems that by labeling her 'gifted' you start to feel like you can't keep up. And, that's simply not true. You don't have to spend a lot of money, and you don't have to worry about hindering her. If you strapped her into a seat and put one electronic toy in front of her all day, that would probably hinder her. But, letting her explore her world, experience her world and being with her as she does this will NOT hinder her. It will teach her and prepare her for later learning.

[mrsramjet]

totally agree with all of this.
those sites are to give you ideas.
but you can do it all really cheaply.

hope you find some ideas that work for you and increase your confidence!!!!!

[ChloesMommy]

I really have! I really appreciate all of the POVs I've tried a few things today, and I have found a few things that are working better! :o) To be honest, I really have a hard time talking to her. I have to be aware all day and talk to her constantly. I am a worry wart, and I start worrying about my problems, and clam up. I learn something new everyday! :o) I think I'm doing pretty good for only being 20!!!

[joandsarah77]

$10 ! you lucky thing, thats way way cheaper. Over here a basic buckets is like $30-$50! :hissyfit If you want to add things like a plain base it's $18, small packs with a person and a vehicle about $9. I am buying my dd the zoo for her birthday, it's $57 AU. :eek
Jo

[Celeste]

I think you've gotten some very good advice. At 18 mos she just needs to enjoy the world of discovery. Being smarter than the average bear is a great advantage, but just being a kid is even better.

[2TMama]

Lisa~

I think it's wonderful that you're looking forward to being able to spend more time w/ your little one :)

I was thumbing through an old Elijah Co. catalog today and saw this book:
_Gifted Children at Home_
by Baker, Julicher & Hogan

Perhaps you could check your library, amazon, or ebay???

The product description says "how do I know my child is gifted?", characteristics of gifted children, and many reasons to homeschool gifted chilldren, how to parent these precocious children (<--- hmmm, don't know what kind of suggestions those might be?)

HTH

[ChloesMommy]

I heard the Elijah Co was going out of business? I will definately look for that book though!

[2TMama]

Yes, I heard they were going out of business as well (this was an 03-04 catalog)....but w/ the title and author I would think you should be able to find it *somewhere* ;)

[ChloesMommy]

I went and found their message board! Great resource! Thanks for the book recommendation!