Saturday, July 18, 2009

is she smart...enough?

At the end of this month Bella will be exactly 2 1/2 years old. She is the only child around that age that I know and that I am around for any length of time. So, how do you know where your child stands as far as how intelligent she is?

I want to challenge her but not expect too much from her. I want her to develop and be ready, socially and mentally, for school. I know that is a ways off, but I don't think you can start to early. But how do you judge if you are on the right track and if you are in the right spot on that track?

Of course family and friends might be biased, or rather are,and just say what you want to hear from them. Are there any good resources out there that show where a child should be developmentally? Honestly most of the time I don't really see Bella as a child. I talk to her like she is a person, not a baby. Sometimes I worry that I am not approaching her in the right way and I might not be teaching things or introducing things that she should be learning because of the way I view her.

Should she have know this before now?

I know all children are different and pick up things in their own time, but there has to be a guideline to go by. Maybe I will look online for any references. Plus, I am excited to get back to the US so the girls can experience more than just being in the house all the time.

6 comments:

Cutzi said...

Just a couple of thoughts: Adia knows her colors, has known them for a month or more. She was two and half in June. I didn't teach them to her.

Steele didn't learn his colors for a looooooong time. So long that I thought maybe he was color-blind. I worked with him A LOT on learning colors.

I purposely do not read anything about child development.

Which leads me to conclude that:

a) I'm a really bad teacher

or

b) Kids develop at their own pace

;-)

Cute, cute video!

Unknown said...

Yeah, Cutzi, you are probably on the right track NOT reading things. If one of your children do something at one rate and the other at a different rate, does it really matter? As long as they eventually learn it, right?

And, there is probably a big difference in boys and girls as far as learning. For me, I won't have the sort of comparison.

That is funny, I didn't teach Bella the colors either. She just picked them up on her own.

I am just not going to worry about it. She is fine and Emily is one step behind her.

Lopie said...

I think she is doing great! I do think each child learns at their ouw pace. Love the video, she was really thinking about each color.

Anonymous said...

She's so cute! I think she's doing great! No kids of my own but I have friends with kids her age and I think she's doing just fine! :)

Amy

Colin said...

Oh man, when she said "yellow" I sighed audibly in my chair here. I hadn't realized how strongly I'd been rooting for her to get it right! Vince actually looked up from his nap to see what all the fuss was about.

Can't help you on the kid-comparo thing, though. I think Cutzi's right, and they're all going to develop on their own schedules. It's not a race, of course, and Bella seems plenty smart to me.

Amy Strain said...

She is perfect! I think more than anything we should strive to teach our children how to be kind people and how to seek answers to questions they have. You are a wonderful mother and teacher!