Advanced Toddlers?

3B

Does anyone have a child that you believe is advanced and possibably gifted? What are some of the things your child does that makes you think that they are advanced? What do you think is the next step in preparing for their educational future?
Why is it acceptable for a parent to be proud of a child who excels in sports, music, art, etc...but if the parent mentions that their child is unusually intelligent people jump all over them?

I am not posting this question to be competitive. I simply want to figure out educational options for my child because at age 2 and a half she can already pass the kindergarten readiness test. I am worried about an education system that focuses on the lowest intellectual denominator. I want my child to challenged by school and love learning.

Answer
My daughter, who is 22 months old, sounds very similar to yours. My mother is a teacher, and she is amazed at what my daughter knows - more than some of the 5 year old kids that she tests at school.

I don't push my daughter to focus on learning, and never have. We have provided her with all kinds of educational toys (letter puzzles, sorting toys, etc), and she is just drawn to it. Even when playing outside, she'll count the flowers in the garden or leaves on the ground. Or, look at a magazine, and start naming the letters she sees.

I was a preschool teacher, and also worked in a Montossorri preschool for several years, and have seen all kinds of children with many different levels of abilities. I believe the best thing to do is provide your children with the tools they need, and if they seem to be gifted - seek opportunities to help them actively learn - but make it fun. A two year old does not need to sit and have a "preschool lesson", but will probably love to look at books and tell you the letters, or count out crackers for a snack. I've even seen a 3 year old who was beginning to read.

Many schools will allow a 4 year old to enter kindergarden, but only if the parent inquires about it. It also depends on the maturity of the child, etc.

The schools in our area also group children in to classes according to their ability. For example, your child may be enrolled in kindergarden, but may go to a first grade class for reading or math, if you child excels in one particular area.

Have fun with your toddler, encourage them, and be proud!

In the newest issue of Parents magazine, there was an article..?

Pet

something like toddler rules? It was really cute and funny, and I wanted to keep it, but I think I accidentally threw my copy away while I was cleaning this weekend. :( Does anyone know what book it was from? Or perhaps a link to it? I'd really appreciate it, I thought it was hilarious. Thanks.

Answer
God I hope this is it because it took me forever to type. excuse the horrid spelling and typing and what not. My hands were hurting, its late, im tired, and it was a lot to type. and I hope no one else did this also. because that would suck. lol I couldn't find this on the site but found my mag.



Dear mom and dad,
thank you for your interest in remaining my parents. Below is a list of my demands.
The Toddler Contract

1. Food
a. for breakfast, there will be only milk from my sippy cup while I'm watching tv (see section 2)
b. from breakfast until what you probably call lunch, i will be provided with an unending supply of cookies. no arguments.
c. for lunch i will eat yogurt, anything containing fruit on the bottom will make me pick them out and throw it on the ground or else throw it up on your carpet.
1. so no fruit on the bottom.
d. from lunch until dinner i will enjoy having something to lick. why not a lollipop? why not seven?
1.between licks, i may place the lollipop on your grandmothers turkish rug. this will be okay with you.
e. for dinner i will have macaroni and cheese. any attempts to give me veggies in addition to the mac and cheese will result in tears.
1. and don't you dare hide anything in the cheese sauce, because, my God, how you will rue the day.
f. after dinner, you may provide me with ice cream.
1. no frozen yogurt. trust me, i know the difference.

2. TV
a. the tv will be on all the time, unless I say differently. you are to sit by my side, quietly, hands folded in lap, while I watch my shows.
1. you may arise to fetch me a snack.
b. no diaper changing or pleas to engage in physical activity will be tolerated during watching of tv.
c. turning off the tv will result in much kicking and screaming.

3. Toys
a. there will be many
1. they will always be strewn about the house so that i may simply reach down and pick up a toy, no matter where I am.
2. they will be loud, complicated and contain many small pieces. i enjoy shooting noises that go w-shooop! or zim zim zim.
3. nothing that results in any type of learning, please.

4. Friends
a. they should be available whenever im in the mood to use someone else's toys or ingest someone elses cookies.
1.these friends may not ever so much as look as my toys or Cookie supply.
2. ever, ever, ever.

5. Sleep
a. is when i say, where i say, and how i say. if i want to sleep upside down with my legs locked around your neck, then that's how it will be.
1. and you will enjoy it.

6. affection
a. occasionally i enjoy being hugged and kissed. I stress occasionally.
b. i will not be pelted with wet-mouthed assaults on an hourly basis. should you feel the need to hug or kiss, you must provide me with a written request.
1. and then wait for me to offer my pudgy cheeks.

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toddlers for xmas?

Sexy Ma

what will you be getting your toddler this year for xmas? I have a 20 month old son and i will be getting him a lot of little people items and trucks. I was going to get him the bounce and spin zebra but i saw it on display and it was smaller than i thought and not much to do on it other than spin and bounce

Answer
Momof4, whats the brand for the "ball tracks?"

My sons likes cars, trucks, musical instruments like keyboard and xylophone. I got them some sound books (Elmo puzzle sound, Backyardigans, etc), Leapfrog fridge phonics.
Last year we got him My First Race Car by Parent's Magazine Toys from Target. It was fun for my then 2 year old, but not for me. It was too loud. Later, I went back to the store, the new packaging offers free 1 year subscription to Parent's Magazine.
We received a Brown Plush Pony Rocker with Sound & Motion, it comes with a felt cowboy hat.

How about those Mega Bloks, they have Rescue HQ and FP Geotrax.

Parents of toddlers, please help! I need ideas for toys for a 2 year old!?

~*Mrs. GM2

Hey all, as you know, Christmas is coming up and I have no idea what to give my 2 year old daughter for Christmas. What are are some toys that your toddlers absolutely love to play with? I just want to give my daughter something that she will really like and that she will play with for awhile..... any suggestions? Thanks a bunch in advance! God bless!

Answer
play kitchen and pots and pans and play food
www.step2.com has some neat kitchens
cool sit on spinny thing...they sit on it and twirl the middle thing with their hands and the spin in circles..i loved those
big legos are always fun
ranger rick has an animal baby book/magazine subscription for a year
wagon
cleaning toys..my son loves my vacuum and he tries to help me clean
little people..my son loves the zoo, circus and pirate ship

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Parents of toddlers, please help! I need ideas for toys for a 2 year old!?

~*Mrs. GM2

Hey all, as you know, Christmas is coming up and I have no idea what to give my 2 year old daughter for Christmas. What are are some toys that your toddlers absolutely love to play with? I just want to give my daughter something that she will really like and that she will play with for awhile..... any suggestions? Thanks a bunch in advance! God bless!

Answer
play kitchen and pots and pans and play food
www.step2.com has some neat kitchens
cool sit on spinny thing...they sit on it and twirl the middle thing with their hands and the spin in circles..i loved those
big legos are always fun
ranger rick has an animal baby book/magazine subscription for a year
wagon
cleaning toys..my son loves my vacuum and he tries to help me clean
little people..my son loves the zoo, circus and pirate ship

how to get my toddler out of my bed and into her own.?

closure

I am trying to stop something I know I shouldn't have started. Here's the story:
My husband and I had just moved into a new home and he was just starting a new job on a midnight shift so me and my 1 year old would be home alone. I didn't want to make her sleep alone and frankly I didn't want to sleep alone either, so I let her sleep in my bed every night. Now that my husband has switched his shift and now works in the morning and my daughter is 2 now, I can't get her to sleep in her own bed. I also feel bad that she has to get booted out now that daddy's home. My daughter is refusing to sleep in her room, probably because she has never slept in it before. My husband is refusing to sleep in the bed as long as there are 3 of us in it. So he has given me an ultimatum, either make our daughter sleep in her own bed or he sleeps on the couch. How do I get her to sleep in her own big girl bed and get my husband back into my bed.

Answer
First of all many parents feel better having there baby or toddler sleeping with them or at least sleeping in the same room, one popular reason is so they don't have the bedtime fights and 2 to get some real sleep!

Seeing she's only 2 years old, she is still way young enough to teach her to sleep in her own bedroom! Many fathers don't like the babies and toddlers in there bed, one is they can't have there fun with mommy anytime they want and 2 if it's a girl toddler, they don't feel comfortable at all! And that's natural!

But as far as training your toddler daughter, you have to do it in so called baby steps, first you must set up her room with all the things she really likes, then teach her to play in her room with all her toys etc. Don't allow her to play with her toys anywhere else! Once you get her trained to that, then getting her to sleep in her own bed will be a lot easier!

To get her to sleep in her own bed without all the fighting and hassles, Set the bedroom floor up with a blow up mattress, a full size one if there's room, if not a twin will work fine! Then for about a week, the 2 of you can sleep on the blow up mattress in her room ( you and her) Let her use her own blankets and pillow and have her stuffed animal with her, and have a night light on in her room and a radio on low! And be sure to close the bedroom door, so that she will know when the door is closed it's sleep time!

After about a week, start just letting her stay up later until she falls a sleep on the couch or on floor on her own! Then when she has been sleeping a while, then put her in her room on the blow up mattress, with the night light on and radio on low! Do that for about 3 days, then the 4 rd day take the blow up mattress out and put a chair in there so when you put her in her own bed, you can sit in her room for a few minutes, to reassure her that she's not alone! Read a book or magazine until you feel it's ok to leave the room ( most kids do well with like opera music or soft music,no rock and roll! But keep the night light on and the radio on low! If she gets up in the middle of the night, go in there and sit on the chair next to her bed to let her know your right there! Then when she goes back to sleep, you can leave the room again and go back to bed! Just keep going through the process to get her to catch on! But do not lose your cool with her or you will make matters worse! Praise her and reassure her it's ok!

After she makes it through the time she is too sleep, the next morning praise her for doing so good in sleeping in her own bed, tell her she's a big girl now and that your very happy and proud of her! Never lose your cool if it takes a while! Your better off training her at her speed, the better the results and happiness for all!

Fighting with toddlers at bedtime, only makes matters worse! And they not be, the battles only get worse when forcing straight bedtime! How you train her is how well everyone gets to sleep at night nicely! You need to have patients and willing to make it work the right way! Bedtime for too many, is a huge battle! But parents make it a battle not the toddler! They dread being a lone, and it's natural! You could get one of those room monitors too if you don't have one, so when you do go to bed, you will hear everything in her room! and can respond fast to make her feel mommy will be there when she needs her, because she's scared or what ever!

The night light and radio low at night will help her feel more safer in her room! And would be very helpful all the way up to the age around 5 years old, then the radio can be removed if you don't want it in there anymore, but the night light should always be in there, because it helps not having bed wetters!

Most bed wetters are caused because the child don't like the dark and won't get out of there bed to go to the bathroom! And having a night light in the bathroom when the child can go on there own helps a great deal too! Children just hate darkness, so avoiding it does wonders for training to sleep a lone and great for avoiding bed wetters!

It's always a lot better to get a child really sleepy before bedtime, about an hour before sleep time, play a lot with her, tire her out! And sleep time will last a lot longer! If a toddler has a lot of energy at sleep time, it will almost always be a long night! Or very tired parents! Power struggles will not cure anything, it just makes things worse! If normally you have nap time during the day, cutting that out of the everyday schedule will help training a lot more easier too! At least during the bed training time!

If she gets too crabby without the day time nap, then cut the nap shorter, because you have to have her tired at bed time! For the training to work faster and easier! Keeping her up later will make a big difference too! Many parents put there toddlers to bed way to early, 7-8 pm is too early unless the child is tired! If there's battles, that's one of the reasons! When training toddlers to bedtime, it should be at a later time then 8 pm, especially during the bedtime training! 9 pm should be the earliest to have way better success! There will be less fighting and the child will be tired! So a lot less fussing!

Teaching a child that bedtime is pleasurable instead of a war! Life will be very pleasant at bedtime for all! Sure there will be fusses some nights when the child is plain not tired, but you can avoid them by finding ways to tire them out before bedtime! Toddlers have a lot of energy, more then parents even realize, except when sick or just not feeling up to par!

Toddlers are not like a clock, trying to set there sleep time is almost impossible if there plainly not tired! And that 's what causes all the problems at bedtime, knowing what tires them out, is the secret to a great success! Putting them to bed at a certain time like 7- 8 pm is not there sleep time clock, that's yours, trying to force onto them to free up your time! That is the worse way to train a child to sleep, it will cause fussing and battles! And very unhappy toddlers and parents!

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When should you start to discipline your baby?

best toddler toys parents magazine image

Q. My 11 month old is starting the little fake whine thing when I know nothing is wrong with her. Should I just say "no" or what?

Answer
As soon as a baby is old enough to do something wrong is when you need to correct them.

A baby as young as 4-5mts can pull hair & glasses off someones face. This isn't something you want them to do.

All you have to do is tap the baby's hand and say "No!" tapping makes them look at the their hand that is doing wrong.

If they laugh and do it again tap just a little firmer and say "NO!"

All it too was a light tap on my first child's hand and she would cry like you had hurt her. It was a tap like you'd give someone to get their attention. lol It wasn't hard to all.

With my other two kids I had to tap a little firmer so it cause just a tad discomfort. Not slapping or popping their hand just enough to make them stop.

Once a baby can crawl to a shelf of books and pull them off the shelf you can teach them no & help them clean it up too.

I use to think this was impossible or mean but I baby sat some kids whose parents taught them from a very young age to obey & I knew I wanted that for my kids.

Doing as suggested above have given me the freedom of not having put up magazines that in baskets on the floor, I can keep my drink sitting on the table and they won't knock it over & most of all when vising friends I don't have to quickly clean up breakables in their home. Because I know my baby & toddler would know not to touch them.

So when she whines take a moment & see if it is a whine because you told her whine or a whine as disobeying.

My middle daughter is stubborn. You'd tell her know & she's whine then want to go right back to what you told her no about. You can stop that are being as strong as she is. Tell her no again & move her away. Repeat it 20 times if you have to.

People may say "A baby can't disobey" or "A baby can't learn to obey."

That is wrong. If you look at the Amish community where they teach their kids to obey as babies you will see babies as young as 3-4mts sitting quietly on mom's lap for a 3hr church service. They learn not whine & fuss to be put down. They play quietly with quiet toys their mom provides. Yet looking at our culture some toddlers can be expected to even sit in a shopping cart for 10mins.

You have to remember you are the parent and you are in charge.

Is the baby in control or you?

The best parenting advice I ever heard was - Not only should you enjoy the company of your child but so should others.

I never ever wanted people to look at my kids & think "Oh, no! Not them again." ; )

Any ideas for fun math and science activities/games for preschoolers?

Meg

I teach preschool and have two classes. One of all 3 year olds (never been in a school setting before) and another of 4 and 5 year olds. Any suggestions or ideas would be great. Math and Science aren't my strong point. The older kids love folder games.

Answer
So many times math and science can overlap.
Math is:
sorting
counting
placing things in order (smallest to biggest) (first to last)
comparing
and so much more

Science is exploration of the world around us.

So fun activities:
Any song with number in it like:
Five Little Monkeys Swinging in the Tree
Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed
Five Little Hot Dogs Frying in the Pan
The Ants go Marching
Five Little Ducks
Five Bears in the Bed

Here is one that is science and math
Seed Sound Jars
Obtain many film or prescription bottles. (Both are great items to get from parents.) Place matching seeds in two containers. I.e. 2 apple seeds, 5 watermelon seeds etc. If using film containers, seal the lids with hot glue or super glue. If using prescription containers, cover the bottles with colored contact paper. This Montessori based activity would normally be introduced to the children in the following manner: without speaking, the teacher picks up one of the containers and shakes it. Then the teacher will pick another bottle and shakes it. Then the teacher shakes the first again. The teacher will shake the bottles and compare them until it is determined if they are a match, if they are not a match, the teacher would shake his/her head "no" and set the second bottle aside, and continue by picking up another bottle and shaking it, comparing it again to the first bottle. When a match is found, the teacher shakes his/her head "yes" and places the two bottles aside, next to each other. Then continues by picking another bottle and try to find its match until all of the matches are found. The child is invited to help when prompted by the teacher, with a shoulder shrug, or by the teacher initiating the child to pick a bottle, etc.

Items to Sort (over the age of 3 for small items)
boxes of scrap materials - cloth, velvet, silk satin, cut into uniform size and shape. Children can sort the material by color or texture.
Many different Bells- cow bells, Christmas bells, children can sort based on color, size, sound.
Buttons- Students can sort them based on the number holes they have, color, shape, size, shiny vs. dull.
Textured Paper cut to uniform size - can be sorted based on texture or color
Other Items: Shells, beads, beans, noodles, seeds, rocks, nature items, nuts, nails, screws, bolts, toys from the room, coins, blocks, stickers, pictures from magazines, books, socks, ribbons, pencils, dolls, stuffed animals, plastic animals, play cars

Any cooking activity is both math and science
Make Ice Cream! I love to do this one, and so do my kids. I have done this with toddlers and school agers...
You will need:
- 2 bags of party ice
- 1 gallon whole milk (or chocolate milk for chocolate ice cream)
- Ice chest
- 1 box of kosher salt
- Paper cups (a least one for each student, and 1 for each teacher in the building who wants to try it)
- 1 lb. Sugar
- 1 gal. Ziplock bags (2 for each pair of students)
- vanilla extract
- Plastic spoons
- 1 quart ziplock bags (1 for each pair of students)
- paper towels
- Measuring cups, teaspoons and tablespoons
Directions:
- Combine 2 tablespoons sugar with a few drops of extract and 1 cup (8 oz) of milk in a small ziplock bag (quart size) and zip it up. This is the small bag!!!
- Add 2 cups of ice and 1/2 cup of rock salt in a gallon ziplock bag. Place this bag into another ziplock bag to reduce leakage. This is the large bag!!!!
- Place the sealed small bag into the large bag and seal the large bag.
- Have the children pair off, and have each partner hold one end of the large bag and shake it until the ice cream is firm.
- After the ice cream is firm, supply the children with cups and spoons so they may pour the ice cream into the cups and try it.

Jet balloons. Fill a balloon with air and let it go. What makes the balloon go?

Singing balloons. Fill a balloon with air and pull the neck of the balloon tight so that the balloon sings. What is making the noise?

Painting with water: You just need a paint brush, and water in a bucket, oh yeah, and a nice warm summer day. Let your child "paint" with the water, and watch how the water evaporates in the warm sun. Paint rocks, trees, the sidewalk anything!!!

Make Goop: Mix 2 cups water with a little food coloring, add 6 cups of cornflour/cornstarch to make goop. A great outdoor summer activity.

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What is the best way to baby-proof a house?

best toddler toys parents magazine image

Savanah

My daughter is 4 months old and so close to crawling that I don't want to wait any longer to baby-proof. I also have a 5 year old son that has lots of little toys, so any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Answer
First off talk to your son about his toys and the safety of the baby. Heres the best trick to teach him right away:

Give him an empty toilet paper roll and explain that any toy or small item that fits through this roll is the size thats dangerous for the baby to choke on.
I got this tip from a parenting magazine based on the size of a babys mouth and throat. I gave each of my kids their own empty roll and sent them to work. It worked out well for my family. Make sure your son keeps his door closed at all times to ensure that his "big boy toys" are always seperate from the baby's things. Remind him to keep the bathroom door closed as well.

My philosophy on baby proofing is different than a lot of people. I usually only keep the dangerous chemicals out of reach and leave all the other cabinets unlocked. I feel that putting cabinet baby locks on every drawer and cabinet will not protect the baby at all. In fact it will give the parents a false sense of security thinking "well she cant even open that door, its locked" I had a toddler dismantle a door lock and reassemble it and hand it to me once. I decided right then and their that those things only work for so long and the day they figure out how to undo it, you may be distracted and not notice right away. I stayed close enough to say "NO" in a loud, clear, voice until the baby, even at 4-6 months can clearly understand what it means. Then they learn about where its ok to play and not ok.

Finally, I have one room in my house that I have altered until I feel it is completely safe and when I need to turn my back on a baby and dont want to put him/her in a swing or playpen, I use this room, Im talking about short periods of time here. But that room is where I keep the toys for chewing and make sure cords, windows, appliances, furniture, everything is stable and/or safely out of reach.

Another trick I read about once is to get down on the floor on your back and stomach and see from your baby's level. The world looks much different from there. A plant stand that is unstable might be just the place for her to pull up, it may topple on her. A book on a shelf can be pulled off and fall on the baby. A battery has rolled under the couch, out of the sight of the adults but within perfect reach of the baby. A cord attached to a floor lamp . Anything that you can see from her level is a potential attention grabber for her. Remember that she is just learning about her surroundings and everything is a toy and goes right to her mouth. Good Luck, Im sure you will do a great job babyproofing your home.

What do I need to take a toddler to the beach?

I am taking my 2 year old boy to the beach for the first time. What do I need to buy and take with me?

Answer
From the time my daughter was born she has loved this. We always with out fail bring the following:

*hydocortizone cream ( toddlers are sensitive and the sand in the diapers get itchy)
*at least 4 towels
*shovels and sand toys( can be found at any local retailer)
*magnifying glass (to look at all the tidepool creatures)
*lots of sunscreen
*two changes of clothes
*a camera and film


*****this is an excert from parents magazine******



Sand and water are essential summer ingredients, and though they're a natural part of the beach landscape, they'll delight your child in any setting. "Playing with sand can teach a 1-year-old an amazing number of things," says Clare Lerner, a child-development specialist at Zero To Three, a nonprofit organization that promotes early-childhood development, in Washington, D.C.
Try burying toys and letting your child excavate them, or act as foreman while your toddler pushes trucks through a mini construction site. Simply filling and emptying his pail will reinforce concepts such as object permanence -- that things stay the same inside or out of a container. To cool off, splash at the water's edge, as long as there's little or no surf. Never let your child walk in water past his knees, and never leave a child unattended near water -- not even momentarily Or carry your child as you run close to the waves, and then run back before a wave catches you. For another water game, let your child see whether objects float or sink.

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