When I was going to school to be a teacher, I decided that I liked the 3rd to 5th grade range the best. Junior high kids scare me, I didn't want to teach high school where they were all bigger than me, and I didn't want to go lower than third grade because that was when you taught kids how to read and write, and that was my biggest fear: being responsible for the literacy development of twenty kids. So, I am now teaching high school. Ironic, I know.
Then, we wanted to start a family. We were so excited about the baby, and what to name him, and what he would look like, that I forgot about all my fears. Then this little angel was born, and for over a year, I've been watching him grow up and just been amazed at how fast he's growing up and all the things that he's learning.
Then, I hear a bunch of other parents of toddlers talk about all the things that they are teaching their children. And, suddenly, my fear returns. I don't think I'm teaching him all the right things. Or even ANY of the right things! How do I know what to teach him first? There are so many things, and I don't even know developmentally where he's even supposed to be right now!
He learns new words everyday, he knows to say please if he wants something, and to say thank you when he gets it. He pretty much can communicate exactly what he wants with either words, gestures, or grunts. He can recognize many different objects by either their picture or looking out the window, he can tell you what cows, horses, chickens, ducks, Mickey Mouse, dogs, monkeys, lions and a few other animals sound like, and he can name a whole bunch of different body parts and point to them when you ask where they are.
But are these the kinds of things I am supposed to be teaching him? Are there more important things we should be working on instead of colors and how many pencils are in the picture? Why didn't anyone tell me when he was born all the kinds of things he's supposed to be able to do by certain milestones in his life? And don't even get me started on potty-training...
Can't we just go back to seeing if he can raise his head and roll from his tummy to his back?
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6 comments:
the true marker of intelligence is whether or not he can say "basketball" and obsessively play basketball for up to one hour without stopping.
see! you have the smartest kid of all!
that just means he was born a true sports fan, and that I teach at the right school for him, because basketball reigns above all here!
Awwww...I know what you mean, Michelle!
I swore I'd never get wrapped up in the comparison of what other babies do but it is hard! I think babies learn what they want to when they're ready. For example, Bella likes expressions (thus the reason she loves to yell out "Bess YOU!") or animals. She has no interest in colors. Her friend, Mitchell, is obsessed with naming colors but could care less about counting or even talking.
I think milestones are a guideline but every child is soooooooo different, it is just an individual child's milestones that matter :)
Doesn't help much, huh? ha
I had a really hard time with that when I had Reid. He didn't know as much as Micheal knows at that age. Just look at him now! He knows tons of stuff and he is potty-trained (and he did that very well!) Some kids are just ready for things and others aren't. I thought Layne would be ahead in everything because he had someone to model. He did walk early, but speech...forget it. He has just started saying lots of things. It has just been in his own time!
yeah. i am totally that way with dillon. but he is talking and walking, just like he should be. he has a huge vocabulary and even cleans his room when i ask him to. i just have to remember that he is still a little guy, and it is gonna take him awhile to transition from velcro to lace-up shoes.
:)
I say don't even bother with lace-up shoes. With all the new shoes that slip on or have fake lace-ups, who needs to exert the energy?
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