Need suggestions to "teach" LO things during the day

W~T~9/15/06

Do you spend time during the day attempting to teach LO anything? (such as body part identification, colors, letters, words, etc...) My LO does not sit still at all to learn anything. He loves to dance, so we do a lot of that! I'm just concerned because he cannot identify any body parts yet, and he's 15 months and not speaking any distinguishable words, he just babbles and screeches all the time.  I asked my pedi today and she recommended baby sign language and seeing an audiologist. I just wonder if there's more I can do with him during the day to "teach him". What do you all do?

LSU628

If he likes music and dancing, what about teaching him "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes'? DD doesn't get all of it, but she can now identify her knees and shoulders now. We also sing the 5 Little Ducks or the 10 Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed to help introduce #s.

LSU628

Oh and my DD will only say "eyes" but she can point to the rest of her body parts when I ask. They understand way more than they can verbalize.

Linz29

Yes I try to teach my LO things throughout the day. He knows body parts and can different animals and the sounds they make.  He is also starting to say numbers and can identify some letters.  I went to the dollar store and got some flash cards for letters, numbers, shapes and common first words.  We also read alot of books and do craft projects. 

W~T~9/15/06

Thanks, these are great ideas.  I'm not too concerned about his speech because he does understand what we say.  I tell him to "pick up a book", and he does.  I think he'll be fine. I just want to make sure I do all I can to help him develop!

piccolina09

Simple ideas are shape sorters and stacking blocks.  Get an empty puff container and give him some clothes pins to put in/empty out, builds fine motor. Stickers, placing them on paper pointing out what they are. Get the crayola toddler crayons and have him start scribbling, sitting if only for a minute. We purchased this and our babies love them: https://search.barnesandnoble.com/My-First-Touch-and-Feel-Picture-Cards/DK-Publishing/e/9780756615185

vernab

DS only says Mama and Papa, no other words.  He does know his ears, hair, and sometimes toes.  We read a lot before naps and bedtime, but I don't really try to "teach" him.  

Sometimes if he's in his highchair having a snack, I'll ask him where a body part is, then I'll point to his and then ask him to show me again.  I try to say the word, then show him, then ask him again and get him to point to it.  If he does, I clap and make a big deal about it. 

I haven't been pushing it a whole lot, just pointing stuff out and trying to get him to point to things also, and repeating the names of things a lot. 

stever

Besides reading we do flashcards - ABC's and French - and spend lots of time pointing anything out - furniture, body parts, animals, art.

LoriJ11

My parents bought her the "my baby can read" set. We go over the flash cards and books and it works pretty good but I think you could do it without it. I point to eyes on myself or books, whatever has her attention (for that second) and she will repeat it.

I have shape blocks that she is learning how to piece together and the diff colors.

We pretend to be animals. So for dog, she will bark, kangaroo, she will jump, cat meow, lion.. roar and throw her head back, ect.

Lots of singing games, head, shoulder, old mc donald, 10 little monkeys 

GingerCupcake

We have a roll of butcher block paper that I use to cover the table and we colour all over it. We count the stairs whenever we go up or down (we're in a split level house so we do that a lot, after about 3 months of this DD will regularly say 2, 3, 5, 8 and 10), I have DD's name spelt out in huge letters taped on the wall, 1 letter per 8.5x11 sheet of paper and each day several times a day we trace the letters with our fingers and say the letters to spell her name (after about 2 months she recognizes and says the letter A and N). We play hide and go seek with her favourite bear and I ask "where's bear!?" and use the words "over, under, behind, in front of, etc." to describe where we found bear once we find him (after 2 months DD now ask "where ____?" when looking for something. There are tons of things to do!

kabe7

My little man won't sit still either. I use meals/snack times and when he's in his carseat for "teaching" moments. So, basically anytime he's fastened down.  

I don't force things. I sing to him, read books, point things out during the day (ie: day-to-day words, colors, numbers, etc)...but I also realize he's 15 months old and he's an active boy. I think the best thing a parent can do - is have conversations with their kids (sadly, a lot of parents talk AT their kids, instead of WITH them).

  

W~T~9/15/06

Thanks ladies. I guess I do more than I realized. I had it in my head that we should sit down and attempt some sort of formal lesson, but I actually do a lot of this stuff throughout the day.  These are some great suggestions that I'm going to try, mostly because they all sound so much fun!

ohfour

Books and puzzles have been best for us. She learned all her body parts from a book that she loved to look at over and over until she could identify the parts on every page. She learned all her ABCs by doing a little wooden puzzle I got from Target. We have a number one, too and she's starting to get those. She recently got interested in colors (she used to call everything blue) and for that we just used items around the room and praise her and make a big deal if she can say what color they are. The only one she couldn't do was yellow, for some reason she always calls it "ON-ee", even though she can say yellow clearly. She's started to get better with that one in the last week or so. Usually if she calls something yellow "ON-ee" I just look at her like "I know you know the right name" and she usually corrects to yellow.

With her, we couldn't do those things until she got interested in them. She liked watching leap frog cartoons and super why and that's how she picked up interest in the letters. She also loves a Barney episode called ABCs or something, and it does colors, shapes, letters and other things.

essey1234

you can't really expect a 15 month old to sit and learn. At that age they learn through play. easy books songs and repetition will be key.

My son has learned so much in the last 2 months. You will likely see a big difference within the next few months as well.

As an idea to start-when you change him, always ask for the body part you need and take it, repeat it many times. Then start working on parts of the face, that takes time to learn . Colors and letters are pretty advanced so just keep repeating but don't worry about that yet

MommyandKate

How about some songs with movement (like the Wheels on the Bus, Itsy Bitsy Spider)?  I really like Baby Sign Language too.