I have been sick for a week and in the process, the mermaids have come and stolen my voice.  So, today I cannot speak loud enough for anyone to hear me, therefore I Sign.  And the coolest part is that Lily understands me.

The 2 year fits of frustration have begun.  You should see how silly I look splayed out flat on my tummy, wailing, while my arms and legs flap about!  Oh… wait.  Maybe it’s more entertaining to watch me watch her doing that.  

So far, there is an almost predictable pattern of her just plain losing it.  Scenario one: She just awoke from a nap that wasn’t long enough.  Watch out.  Scenario two: She is exhausted, has stopped signing, has stopped playing, has started whining and whimpering, and dragging her little body around (while still on foot) the entire house.. Here comes the.. blahahahahaha… yep.

So far, the best option is to just ignore her.  It seems that she almost needs these breakdowns. She is angry and frustrated and it isn’t directed at anyone, it’s directed at everyone and everything, including her own little self.

After a few minutes, she calms down and returns to normal, sometimes better.  She has never had one of these episodes out in public, always just at home, and if she continues that we will be just fine.  We just hope that whatever her little brain is struggling to connect during this time will connect soon because aside from the entertainment factor, it is actually sad and painful to watch her be so frustrated.

I will however continue to state that the Signing has decreased or all but eliminated tantrums in our situation.  She never flips out when there isn’t some other power at play (that being sleep depravation).  She gets mad once in a while when she doesn’t get what she wants, and she tells us about it, with words, not screaming or hitting, or whatever else is common for 18 month old children.

We have a few different flash card sets, she has 12″ foam letters, and, as she has discovered, the world is FULL of letters everywhere you look!

She recognizes the Sign for the letter and tries to sign it back. Most of her signs for letters are not really obvious, unless you have context, but the letters O, A, T, R, L, and Z are her favorite and she can sign them well enough that anyone can determine what she has signed.

Why are we teaching her letters so young?

I have had a few people express that they feel we are pushing her too hard and that we just expect too much of such a young child. So, to address this concern, as it will surface again, it should be made clear that we do not push her. Lily demonstrates interest in something and that is our cue to focus a bit more on it than other things for a few minutes, hours, or days. She determines what she wants to learn, and she also decides how much energy is devoted to it. She also often determines just HOW we focus, as in what activities are included.  Eventually we will begin to structure her learning times somewhat, but we are working to foster a mind that recognizes the possibility of learning ALL the time, not just when it’s time to, based upon a schedule.  This concept is one that comes naturally to the child, the work in fostering of the concept is to for her father and me.

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She is amazingly observant of her world, speaking or signing objects, feelings, and ideas all the time about everything around her.  Yes, all babies are the same, but most of those we are frequently in contact with cannot articulate nor communicate what is going on inside their head to the extent that Lily can.  She notices things while we are driving around town that I have never seen even though I have gone down that same street 100 times.

So, why letters?  Well, she started pointing them out when we would go to the store, read a book, get the mail, you name it.

I pulled out the cards that we play signing games with (they also happen to have letters on them), her foam letters – which she loves to throw at people, and we use the AquaDoodle and MagnaDoodle to guess what that letter is. Recently, we’ve begun writing together on the white board and on paper. She loves to have her hand held and guided around the medium with a crayon, marker, or whatever stylus is appropriate.

From letters to reading…

Yes, she is already learning letter sounds. This started a month or two ago, when one day she started to say MMMMMMM and pointed to the M on her book. From there she showed us the sounds for T, S, L, A, O, P, K… etc – my favorite is how she says X.

We started putting two letters together and then three, to spell words that she uses all the time. She isn’t “reading” the words, but she recognizes them, which at this stage proves quite interesting. We will continue to encourage letter sound combinations and phonics for the purpose of eventual “reading” skills, and will have the extra added benefit of her already having recognition of quite a few words.

She continues to prove that the stages and ages our society typically deems appropriate for educating is sadly delayed. We are collectively missing so much opportunity to utilize the natural window of our children’s development by sticking to the “proven” educational system that our society is tied to.

In short, I believe so, yes.  And, I suppose, even if I didn’t believe, it wouldn’t matter because my daughter is in the process of proving that the generally accepted development milestones are well, wrong.

I would love to just BRAG AND BRAG about my kid, just like you would about yours, so go ahead!! Send me your comments and tell me all about your little one.  :)  And here’s my little plug –  Lily is learning so much, so fast, that I am struggling to keep up.  What are we doing to teach her, to help her learn?  What is our brilliant and ingenious technique?  Well…  scroll down.

Keep scrolling…

Sorry, couldn’t resist.

Our brilliant technique follows:

Ready?
Purposely creating an environment full of life, then getting out of the way and letting her explore.

Crazy brilliance, huh.

Seriously, we do our best to keep toys organized and sorted into logical categories/spaces, take her to new environments as often as possible, as well as very familiar ones, and we watch her; she tells us what she is ready to absorb.

Cecily can sign somewhere around 450 signs now, and gains about 10 signs a week now. She can communicate just about whatever she pleases.  And if she doesn’t know what the sign for something is, she’ll either say the word, or ask for a word or sign.  MY 18 month old ASKS me to TEACH HER.

Frustration? With the exception of fatigue induced meltdowns, she is never frustrated.  If she needs help, she says so.  If she wants something, she asks for it.  Sometimes she asks over and over and over, but eventually she will get your attention or get you to acquiesce and then, she smiles.

Can we tell her no?  Well, often we don’t really want to, but yes.  We tell her “no” all the time and usually she accepts our answer.  What happens when she doesn’t want to be told “no”? Sometimes she simply ignores our response; and usually runs away giggling to prove she did NOT hear us.  Often, she will contest: She will continue to sign what she wants, drag us around, or stand there and plead with puppy eyes, signing “please” over and over.  Hold fast – stay strong… ERFFF

And occasionally she will really just lose it, most often she’s exhausted when this happens. Distraction or time out an option?  Huh, no.  We get down on her level, eye to eye, often mom/dad’s mouth to Lil’s ear, and gently, but firmly discuss the issue.  We use signs and words that she knows and a lot of the time, she is able to be reasoned with.

What happens when she isn’t reasonable and nothing mentioned above is successful?
Dad hands baby to mom… Mom hands baby to dad…. Mom lays baby down on the floor and walks into the other room for a minute, commences Plug retrieval, and grimaces a lot.  Boob comes next, as sleep and comforting has become required.

Fart… she says, while signing “potty”… guess what she just did.
Her other favorite new word is “burb”.  Yep.

So, as far as teaching her letters, we started by having a few toys that repeat the letter of chubby finger choice, until your ears are bleeding.  A very aggravating but surprisingly excellent method of education for little minds.

From there, we found a wooden alpha-tile flip toy; this is a fav because it’s about 12″ x 12″ and is great for the car, house, table, wherever.   Letters on one side, images of objects she recognizes and signs/says on the other.

We have a set or two of flash cards with letters, Leapfrog Fridge Letters, and foam letters a foot tall.  Aside from these, shirts, signs, books, tv, mail, license plates, everything!! She sees letters everywhere.
T A R G E T – diaperville.  We pull into the parking lot and hear “tuh tuh tuh, Aayyyy, rrraaarrrr, eugh”.  We have arrived.

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For more posts, click the ARCHIVE link at the top of the page.

Yes.

Want proof?  I’ll upload the video later today.

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A few minutes later, Cecily requested Signing Time, which she does about 9 am most mornings.  I started the ABC Time episode.  

She can sign the following letters mostly recognizably (to another person, besides just Mom):

L, O, Z, A, B, C, G

While the Signing Time episode plays, Lils will say either the letter name, make the sound, or mimic the sign; sometimes all three.

She can recognize the following letters signed, and will go pick them up (foam) off the floor or out of her box, if she is so inclined.

A, B, C, D, F, G, H, J, L, M, O, T, Z, and just today, V.

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So, the question is, how is she learning these? What have we done to teach her?
Next post…

Yes.

Want proof?  I’ll upload the video later today.

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A few minutes later, Cecily requested Signing Time, which she does about 9 am most mornings.  I started the ABC Time episode.  

She can sign the following letters mostly recognizably (to another person, besides just Mom):

L, O, Z, A, B, C, G

While the Signing Time episode plays, Lils will say either the letter name, make the sound, or mimic the sign; sometimes all three.

She can recognize the following letters signed, and will go pick them up (foam) off the floor or out of her box, if she is so inclined.

A, B, C, D, F, G, H, J, L, M, O, T, Z, and just today, V.

____________________________________________________________
So, the question is, how is she learning these? What have we done to teach her?
Next post…

Lils has a lot to say.

So far, we have “want orange juice please” (so I guess that is technically 4 words), “please gago there with bike” (the with part was left out), and last night while driving away from Grandma’s she signed “red balloons, red lights, car, go” referring to the brake lights and the balloons at the car dealer.

In reading what the typical 18 month old demonstrates as far as phrase communication, from what I can tell, most of them have the ability to offer 2 word phrases, though limited, by this age.  Finding an 18 month old who strings together 4 – 7 words logically seems to be rather rare, except if that 18 month old knows Sign.

And then there is the part about letters and reading… 

Our Signing With Baby Adventure

...proves that although watching T.V. does not improve a toddler’s
development, it does not harm it either.

Signing Time seems to fit into the category of extraordinary benefit.

More....

Choosing Developmentally Appropriate T.V. Shows for Toddlers
One of the biggest concerns parents have about toddlers watching T.V. is the increased risk of exposing them to violence. Even childrens’ shows can demonstrate unacceptable violent behavior that can cause a toddler to have nightmares and be overly aggressive. Watching T.V. with your toddler and carefully monitoring the shows he watches can help prevent your toddler from being exposed to inappropriate shows.