What I’ve Learned.

I remember with Jakob being so uptight about teaching him his letters, numbers, etc. I had letters up in his room when he was tiny and was frustrated that he wasn’t “getting it” at a younger age. I tried to sit down and read him a series of alphabet books when he was 1 and was upset when he lost interest. I did alphabet flashcards with him when he was 2 and was wondering why he wasn’t learning it. I thought the way he should learn would be to sit and drill him on the letters. Finally at 4 years old he was able to sit and learn his letters, my way.

With Isabelle??? I haven’t worried about teaching her the alphabet, I just let her soak it in. We have watched alphabet shows while she has danced around room. We do flashcards and I do one or two with Isabelle and let her play with the extra cards. We read alphabet books and I don’t care if she loses interest. AND, she loves the alphabet. She loves to sing her ABCs. She loves to look at alphabet books and “do” the flashcards. She loves the alphabet shows and will run around saying “A B C!” She really enjoys her letters and I think she will learn them much quicker then Jakob did BECAUSE I didn’t push her to learn them. She has just been surrounded by letters and doesn’t feel that pressure.

WHAT I HAVE LEARNED:

1. Most babies and toddlers won’t sit through a lesson. They won’t pay attention as you drill them on facts and figures. They do soak in EVERYTHING!! You just have to present it to them, submerge them in it, and they will learn it. You will have those moments that you will teach and can drill (especially as they get older), but the best way for these little ones to learn is to be surrounded by numbers and letters.
2. That it never helps to push to hard. Being positive and gently pushing works, but when they get too frustrated they just don’t do well. They won’t learn as well, they won’t like what they are learning, and they aren’t going to want to do it in the future.
3. That my poor Jakob is the one that I test my theories on and that I’m sure I will continue to mess up with him. Sorry baby. Maybe I will learn to be more relaxed as we continue to learn together.