The Carnival of Homeschooling is up at

Consent of the Governed! This post is my entry :)

What 2's Can Do!

In two months, I will "graduate" my third two-year-old. We won't have another two year old until a year and a half from now. I'm by no means old yet, but it's funny how my memory is already not what it used to be. They say you lose a quarter of your brain functioning each time you have a baby. Hmmm. Sounds like I'm in trouble ;) I find myself trying to remember when so and so did this or that and when we started such and such. Thankfully, I have written down quite a bit. It's sort of here, there, and everywhere, though. You would think I'd have a quick answer for younger friends who ask, for instance, when our children could sing the ABC song, but my answer isn't often very helpful. "I don't remember".

So, just as much for my own good as for anyone else who might be interested in what a two year can do, here is what I've written down over the last 3 two year olds :)

First, and not least, two years old can put forth a mighty (note Shug at right) effort in real life learning. By that I mean, they are ready to learn about anything and everything whenever you are ready to let them at it. Alphabets, counting, and scribbling aside, I am convinced that two-year-olds learn the most from lots of great experiences and lots of great books. Charlotte Mason said all educational stimuli boiled down to two broad categories: books and things. It's no different for the littles. Give them good books and a rich, wide variety of experiences with things and their young minds will have a literal feast! Dr. Ruth Beechick in her fabulous book, The 3 R's, sites studies that show the dramatic gains to be had from a wide-range learning base in the younger years. Children who play in the mud, learn about thermometers while they play outside, watch ice melt, etc. are better readers by the time they reach third grade than children who begin phonics instruction early, but have more limited exposure to real life things. This doesn't mean you can't teach even a toddler a little in the way of formal instruction, but it does mean that skill-teaching should never get in the way of a rich and varied experience.

For our little ones, this "varied experience" has increasingly included time outdoors. When my oldest was a toddler, we lived in a suburb of Washington, D.C. in a townhouse with a teeny, weeny backyard and a busy parking lot in the front. Not conducive to outdoor play, especially considering that traffic could easily make a trip to the park a 45 minute drive. Ugh. There are some things I miss about Virginia (mostly people), but nothing short of Divine calling could get me to go back. I mention this to point out that there are different circumstances for each family, but we can get creative :) Even a tiny townhouse yard can be used to grow flowers or vegetables from seed and to watch birds and ants. We've been able to be outside far more easily, though, since we've moved to Ohio, and I'm sure my children are better off for it. It might sound weird, but I get absolutely tickled when my girly little two and a half year old sticks an empty cicada shell on her shirt like its jewelry. Why? Because I'm glad she's considering creation as something to learn from and not something to scream at and drop. Cicadas fall into the category of educational "things". Now, lest I make myself sound all high and mighty, there are a few things out there that even Mama has a hard time keeping in her hands. I was pretty creeped out when Shug held a massive (and I mean massive) cecropia moth caterpillar at the butterfly house this summer. Wooee. It's my goal to hold one next year, though. If she can do it....

But, back to two year olds.  

In a home where the children are being included in much of daily life, are hearing quality books read on a regular basis, and are exposed to a wide variety of knowledge, there is no reason to hold back giving them a little teaching. When I first began looking through preschool options for my oldest, I was shocked to learn that many programs teach colors and shapes in preschool. Does that mean, then, that there are more than a few four year olds going through life with no knowledge of "red" or "green"?! That seems awfully old to me to see a group of blue, purple, orange, and red blocks as merely "blocks" and not distinctly separate groups. Do you see how just a little formal knowledge of colors can impact the way a growing child's mind is sorting and storing information in his everyday life? I want to make it clear that I do not advocate pushing a two year old to learn anything. I also want to make it clear, though, that - for most children - beginning readiness learning can happen naturally, easily, and without that nasty pushing. At least they can learn their colors before they're four.

But, two is a long way off from four. If you're wondering "why start so young?" or "what's the point?" my answer is mainly what I've just mentioned. Children with even a little of this categorizing knowledge can look at the world differently than those without it. Four summers ago, when SweetP was still shy of 3 years old, she saw a large windmill in Kansas. She called it a "spinning Y". She couldn't have made that connection or articulated her thought without an understanding of what "Y" looked like. A few minutes playing with Mama and some magnets each day helped her mind organize new information in a meaningful way. I would offer another reason; when school really begins in earnest, the child isn't bogged down with having to learn the basics and the content all at once. A little time gently invested in the years before age 6 can really make the transition into school work much easier for the child. The four year old taught early (and gently) is learning to read, not learning her colors, in preschool. Then, when her first full year of school begins at around age 6 there is not the sense that she is plunging into everything all at once. This is the common practice in many of the more elite, private schools in the U.S. More on that later...

Here's a brief list of things we have gently and naturally taught the three older children in the months between their second and third birthdays:

1) Sing the ABC song. Later in the year, to say it without the musical tune.

2) "Count" aloud up to 15 or so (we often use real objects along with the counting. Mama points.)

3) Recognize capital letters (mainly done through games with magnets on the fridge).

4) Memorize name, phone number, and address (for safety reasons)

5) Play rhyming games (Mama says "well", child says "fell!" - they get excited, lol)

6) Scribble and doodle a LOT! (begin making circles, adding eyes, smiles, legs, arms).

7) Begin to learn some everyday Spanish words and/or American Sign Language

8) Maybe touch on the concept of left and right

9) Recognize numbers 1-5

I should note that colors, shapes, and basic opposites have all been learned before age two. We have some great puzzles by Melissa & Doug that have been wonderful for teaching colors and shapes. We're also often pointing out colors, shapes, new words, etc. while we read aloud to the little ones. I'll also mention that I consider play-doh, painting, making cookies, pasting, and similar learning activities to fall within the category of "real life learning". I know, play-doh is a stretch, but great fun if you can keep it out of their mouths ;) The children never know Mama has a list of things she's working on with them. They don't realize I'm trying to teach them their shapes. They know we play games and I talk to them. There should not be a "perfomance" element to the learning.

That's it!

I stress that everything must be approached in a very relaxed way. Learning at this age should never, ever be a disipline issue. Someone will say, "But I know my son knows his colors. He's just refusing to tell me". Well, I'd say quit asking him. Quit giving him the opportuity to refuse. Just let him be for a little while. Read books, play outside. You can still point out colors casually. "Here, honey, you can have the red cup today". There's no need to drill a toddler. In fact, I would guess that most toddlers would resist much drill - or become emotionally upset by the pressure. Young children pick up quite a lot just through conversation. No conflict necessary.

Someone else will say, "Wait a minute, Miss Charlotte Mason Devotee, I've read in some of your others posts that Charlotte Mason wanted mothers to hold off on formal learning until age 6". That's completely accurate. Charlotte Mason wanted formal schooling to begin no earlier than age six. The key here is found in the word "formal". CM advocated informal learning before the school years. In Volume One, Miss Mason holds Susanna Wesley up as a model for the teaching mother and quotes extensively from Mrs. Wesley's writings. In the Wesley home, reading instruction began with great ceremony on the child's fifth birthday. In other words, before age 6. Also, Miss Mason goes on to say that learning to read is rarely a strain on the child's brain when it is taught properly:

"Many persons consider that to learn to read a language so full of anomalies and difficulties as our own is a task which should not be imposed too soon on the childish mind. But, as a matter of fact, few of us can recollect how or when we learned to read: for all we know, it came by nature, like the art of running; and not only so, but mothers of the educated classes do not know how their children learned to read. 'Oh, he taught himself,' is all the account his mother can give of little Dick's proficiency. Whereby it is plain, that this notion of the extreme difficulty of learning to read is begotten by the elders rather than by the children" (pg. 200).

As for the very little ones, Miss Mason writes of the learning they will do when given the right materials:

"Let the child alone, and he will learn the alphabet for himself: but few mothers can resist the pleasure of teaching it; and there is no reason why they should, for this kind of learning is no more than play to the child, and if the alphabet be taught to the little student, his appreciation of both form and sound will be cultivated. When should he begin? Whenever his box of letters begins to interest him. The baby of two will often be able to name half a dozen letters; and there is nothing against it so long as the finding and naming of letters is a game to him. But he must not be urged, required to show off, teased to find letters when his heart is set on some other play" (pg. 203).

May the Lord bless you as you enjoy precious moments spent discovering & learning with your two year old! It's true, we are learning right along with them :)

Jacci

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