Need Help Teaching Naughty 2.4 year old to Read

[Akkuka]

Am a 1st time Mom to a very naughty 2.4 yr old boy.
My three goals for my son now are :
1.Teach him to Read.
2.Teach him Basic Numbers and Counting.
3.Potty Training


I have to accomplish them before his Preschool starts in September.

For his Reading:
1.Am at present trying Sidney Ledson's Egg Game. The game itself is very good.But my son is very naughty and does not want anything to with Alphabets.His is more interested in gathering the rewards and does not wait for his turn.

I also downloaded some Iphone Apps for phonics. Am able to sustain his attention for a little bit.
He loves books and would sit down with me to read three books at a time.


As for Math.He hates Numbers.What is the best way to teach Math?



I also tried Starfall. He is a little interested in it.But he is just starting out. So does not apply to him yet.



Please help. Any tools and websites for help?


Thanks,
Akkuka's Mom

[Sarah108]

Hi Akkuka

I must say that your post saddened me a little. Labelling your son naughty seems to me that you've already put him in a box. Early education is all about holding the highest image of your child. I am not discounting the fact that possibly he has other motives or intentions than what you would like for him. But most often, a "naughty" child, is a misunderstood child. So, for example, if you ask him not to touch something and he goes ahead and touches it, he may just be needing to learn about his environment and desperate to touch something to learn about it. If he breaks something, he may be trying to take it apart so that he understands how it's done. I am not saying that children don't need boundaries and discipline, but maybe some of his "naughtiness" can be attributed to his fervent desire to learn.

There are MANY acitivites that you can do with a very active toddler that can keep their active little bodies stimulated, and help you to understand them better.

Take Math for example. Instead of sitting him at the computer, forcing him to look at Math software, you could make a soft dice, and throw it on the floor and shout out the number with him. Then the next dice, and add them up together. You could make doman Dot cards, and throw them on the floor and he could jump on them while you both shout out the number. you could use beads to add up numbers and count. you could paint dots or use trucks etc to count. keeping him active is how they learn best. Children need to move to learn.

I do not doubt that you have those three goals for your son. We all have desires / needs. But if you start out with a timeline, and a specific goal he MUST reach by then, your teaching is going to be strained, and you're going to get upset and frustrated with him if he does not achieve those.

I really cannot recommend the book enough: right brain education: changing the world one heart at a time - by Pamela Heickin (www.rightbrainkids.com) - her children MORE than achieved the goals that you have set for your son, but they were done without initially setting out those targets, and in a gentle, loving manner. The important thing about Right Brain education, is that you do not test the right brain. Which means you never put them under stress to perform in front of others. And when you're teaching him, you shout out the numbers, for example, until he feels safe and confident enough to shout them out with you. It will come, that I promise.

I am the HUGEST control freak, and this method of learning has been both an eye opener, as well as taught me that I can't control everything in my life - let alone my daughter's. But I am happy to say that she is 23 months, reads, does basic Math, has an EXTENSIVEe vocab, loves music and amazes me every day.

Be gentle on yourself and your child and...

Good luck!

[Akkuka]

Hi Sarah,

Thanks for your  reply.
Your mail was an eye opener. I have just started researching about teaching and learning methods for my son.
I was confused by the ton of information out there and dozens of methods for early education.

English is not my native language.So when i said naughty i was not meaning to label him,but just describing his playfulness.

As for the goals ,I just have them to get a sense of direction.But am not planning to stress myself nor my son with a "game plan"

I will check the books and website you mentioned.

Thanks a ton.

I regret starting out  a little late. Last year we were caught up in his health issues.
He has a severe wheezing problem. We had to go through traumatic hospitalizations.

Now that we are back on our foot,all i want him to do his learn the joy of Reading.



We do not have cable. I canceled the day he was born.I dont show him any s/w too. He watches "Arthur" an hour evryday on Youtube 

But he did like the phonics Iphone App and Starfall i tried today.



"Early education is all about holding the highest image of your child"


These lines touched me a lot.Inspiring.I would love to hear more from you.

So the activities you mentioned,where are they available?Doman?
I just learnt about the Doman methods.

Please help with the names of the best methods.So i can gather materials and resources.

My son is starting out in phonics,knows numbers(not conceptual though),very good vocab(bi-lingual),loves to dance.




Thanks a ton,
AJ

[mrsound]

Hey there,

I myself is a first time parent. I don't know if I'm the good one to give you an advice but I'll try. 

Anyway, since you have a 2 year old son, I think your doing a good job exposing him to fun games that can make him learn. I think Starfall is a good website. Since you said that he is kinda interested to it, keep letting him do it. Patience is important in teaching our kids basic reading and writing. Just have fun with him and learn with him. It adds bonding moment to you guys too.

[TracyR4]

Aww. Your not starting out late. LOL
My daughter is 4 and we just started with the the reading 2 months ago. LOL That being because I never knew you could teach little ones to read. I was always left with the impression that geniuses did that. I didn't hear about this until my daughter was about 3 1/2 for the very first time I saw the Your Baby Can Read commercials. I didn't get them because I didn't know of anyone that had a young child that could read. Well except one and that mom just said her son just learned to read when his big sister was learning. So of course that it where I got the " Your child must be a genius " thought.

Anyways my 4yr old isn't thrilled with numbers either. I took and made BIG numbers on sheets of white paper. Then put them in page protectors and put them in a binder. I added the words for the numbers ( because she likes to read now) and this helps keep her attention. she thinks she is learning the words but in reality she is learning to recognize the numbers. He, he. You've got to be sneaky sometimes.

I agree with games that keeps him moving. He's in what is called the Terrible Twos. The time when kids become very aware of their surroundings and get into everything and want to move, move, move.  So use that to your advantage.
Make big flash cards and play games. Simon Says is always a fun one. You start by saying " Simon says.... find the number 5! " Or you can call it Mommy Says. LOL.  The more fun you make it for little ones the more they want to do it.

[TmS]

Richard Feynman - one of the worlds foremost mathematicians and physicists in his time and a genius always claimed that we teach maths with the wrong approach and I tend to agree.

The fact is that we are all good at maths - if we weren't we wouldn't be able to complete a simple task such as lifting a cup to our mouth and drinking from it - a task that requires incredible computations. If you were to try to train a robot to do said task the mathematical formula and the information it would need would be lengthy indeed.

Maths is everywhere and in everything we do you don't need to do anything special to find maths just think about what you are doing and you'll find that maths is there..... crossing the road? how fast do you need to walk in order to get across before the car that is approaching you at a speed of ?? catches up to you - the fact is your subconscious mind does that equation with ease.

The problem of course is tapping into this subconscious awareness of mathematics and bringing it into the conscious mind.

The key to this is imagination and imagination is limited to an extent by our experiences and knowledge.

Did you know that Einstein used to imagine himself flying through the universe and this is how he worked out the theory of relativity - the maths came later.

At this age the best thing you can do for your child is give them hands on number experiences and concepts.

Examples: Snack time - cut an apple in half then in half again and then in half again and so on all the while talking about the fractions you are creating.

Play lots of water games - what sinks what floats and why? How much water fits in this cup? How many cups do I need to fill to take all the water out of this jug?

What fits inside this box and what doesn't?

Shape sorters and puzzles are great for mathematical thinking and problem solving.

Everything should be fun fun fun.

Remember they'll unfortunately get plenty of time to do boring traditional maths when they get inside a traditional classroom. Why ruin a fun subject for them before you have to?

There is a fantastic BBC show called the "Number Jacks" my son absolutely loves them, they are fun and use real life mixed with imagination to bring math concepts to children. They are intended for school age children but my boy has loved them since he was 18 months when I found them and as a result his concepts of length and weight and problem solving are quite advanced.

Best of luck with it and remember you can't go wrong if you're playing and having fun.

[amazonelf]

I think it will be better for you if you relax the goal just a little bit. Focus in just the teaching and not when it must be done for now.  Other than that, your posts look like you're doing alright.

[Sarah108]

Hi AJ

The Right brain book by Pamela provides you with probably the best "formaul" on the activities which you can do with your child to train their right brain, and ready them for speed reading, photographic memory, perfectpitch etc.

Shichida, who was another master of Right Brsain education, wrote several books on early learning, although he does a lot of testing in his teaching method which I do not advocate. I am going to purchase two of his books though, now.

figure8.net is ShenLi's blog, and has probably been the BIGGEST inspiration apart from Pamela's book in a long time. She provides activities, understanding of early learning etc on her blog which is totally dedicated to early learning. It's a fantastic resource for you to read.

I'd start with those two it I were you. Purchase the book, and read ShenLi's blog. She provides an acitivity guide on her blog about some of the activities which Shichida recommends. you just need to take the testing element out if that's not for you.

Good luck!

[Marialuisa]

Hi Akkuka

I must say that your post saddened me a little. Labelling your son naughty seems to me that you've already put him in a box. Early education is all about holding the highest image of your child. I am not discounting the fact that possibly he has other motives or intentions than what you would like for him. But most often, a "naughty" child, is a misunderstood child. So, for example, if you ask him not to touch something and he goes ahead and touches it, he may just be needing to learn about his environment and desperate to touch something to learn about it. If he breaks something, he may be trying to take it apart so that he understands how it's done. I am not saying that children don't need boundaries and discipline, but maybe some of his "naughtiness" can be attributed to his fervent desire to learn.

There are MANY acitivites that you can do with a very active toddler that can keep their active little bodies stimulated, and help you to understand them better.

Take Math for example. Instead of sitting him at the computer, forcing him to look at Math software, you could make a soft dice, and throw it on the floor and shout out the number with him. Then the next dice, and add them up together. You could make doman Dot cards, and throw them on the floor and he could jump on them while you both shout out the number. you could use beads to add up numbers and count. you could paint dots or use trucks etc to count. keeping him active is how they learn best. Children need to move to learn.

I do not doubt that you have those three goals for your son. We all have desires / needs. But if you start out with a timeline, and a specific goal he MUST reach by then, your teaching is going to be strained, and you're going to get upset and frustrated with him if he does not achieve those.

I really cannot recommend the book enough: right brain education: changing the world one heart at a time - by Pamela Heickin (www.rightbrainkids.com) - her children MORE than achieved the goals that you have set for your son, but they were done without initially setting out those targets, and in a gentle, loving manner. The important thing about Right Brain education, is that you do not test the right brain. Which means you never put them under stress to perform in front of others. And when you're teaching him, you shout out the numbers, for example, until he feels safe and confident enough to shout them out with you. It will come, that I promise.

I am the HUGEST control freak, and this method of learning has been both an eye opener, as well as taught me that I can't control everything in my life - let alone my daughter's. But I am happy to say that she is 23 months, reads, does basic Math, has an EXTENSIVEe vocab, loves music and amazes me every day.

Be gentle on yourself and your child and...

Good luck!

Thank you Sarah108 for this post, it has been really inspiring for me!
Thanks and karma to you.

Marialuisa.

[Krista G]

Hello Ladies,

I have not read the whole thread, but I have scanned it.  I just wanted to say that when parents call their children naughty or rude it always catches my attention, so I clicked the post.  I realize that he was mislabeled due to translation, but Sarah, your reply to the original post was so carefully and beautifully articulated.  I love your reply.  It was caring and heartfelt while not being judgmental.  Good job on that one.  I have seen you mention Pamela's book before.  I think I am now ready to order it.  Can you provide a link please?  Thank you.

Tracy,  I clicked on your blog last night and watched your youngest reading.  All I can saw is WOW!  You have made incredible progress.  You must both be thrilled.  What a testimony to finding the right keys to unlocking your child's potential.  She is doing incredibly well.  You have actually inspired me to work more with my 4 year old.  The capabilities of these young ones never cease to astound me.  So good job, mama.

[Sarah108]

Hi MariaLuisa, thank you very much for your kind words.

Krista, I promise you that you won't be wasting your money. The book is fabulous!

Here is the link below.
http://www.rightbrainkids.com/component/page,shop.product_details/flypage,shop.flypage5/product_id,168/category_id,54/option,com_virtuemart/Itemid,26/

Let me know what you think once you've read it. Maybe also look at a couple of clips on youtube of Pamela. (links also available on her website). She is SUCH a gentle soul, and will give you a flavour of who she is when you're reading the book.

[Krista G]

Thank you, Sarah.  I just placed my order.  I can't wait to read it.

[akalori]

AJ,

I wouldn't bother with learning the names of his letters or phonics.  Instead go straight to reading.    He will figure out the names of the letters without any effort.  You don''t need to teach it.  Once he is reading he will work out some phonics by himself  too just like how babies figure out grammar while talking.  You can sprinkle in some phonics later as needed.  You should read Glenn Doman's book "Teach Your Baby To Read ( Gentle Revolution)."  Or watch a Your Baby Can Read info commercial, so you can understand how a child can learn to read without learning letters and phonics first.  Also the Little Reader still has a free trial period.  If you can afford it, it is a great investment.  Look for Little Reader in the menu bar, I'm sure it also has lots of information about teaching babies to read.  It has a complete reading curriculum.   

Good Luck, Lori

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