Learning Colors and Shapes

These are cool Touch and Feel Cards& My First Touch 'n Feel Flash Cards from www.onestepahead.com. I bought these for my 24 month old and he loves them!! He has learned most of his colors from them.

Try to enjoy him and RELAX! There is no need for him to know his colors and shapes at 2. Just praise him for what he does do well, and have fun. IT WILL COME!

I agree w/ the other posters and a part of me feels that you are pushing this hard. My daughter is 3 1/2 and while she can say her ABC and count to 15, she doesn't recognize the letters/numbers. She does know her colors and most of her shapes. We used a lot of the Baby Einstein videos. They have different ones that focus on different subjects. Baby Van Gogh focuses on Colors, & baby Newton deals with shapes. Don't push too hard. I just put these on as background most of the time when she would pass the TV and see something that caught her interest, she would stop and watch for a little while.

I think it is wonderful that you are spending time with your son and that you are active in his learning. But one thing I would like to mention that hasn't been mentioned yet is relax! He is only 2! There is no rush at all. He is doing wonderfully with what he is learning and trust me, he WILL learn his shapes and colors. Just read to him, play with him, and don't focus so much on rushing to get to the next "step".

I do remember the feeling with my first of wanting to be sure that she was getting all she needed and learning all she could....she is now in college and it went SO FAST! Now my 4th (and youngest) is 2 and I have learned that they WILL learn and the best teacher is just loving them and playing with them and enjoying them being 2.

You are doing a great job, just try and relax and enjoy being a mama!

My son loved colors. He knew all of his colors by the time he was two. First of all, realize that each child is different and there is nothing wrong if he doesn't get it just yet. My other children took a little longer. Pressuring a child can backfire sometimes. Make it fun! If you teach him now that learning isn't fun, you may mold some issues you don't like for later on in life. Don't show frustration if he doesn't "perform." What we did was read books that talked about color and also got age-appropriate crayons so that he could color things while we talked about the color. Let him be creative with this also. If he colors a tree purple, tell him what a beautiful purple tree that is. Maybe you could make up a fun story about where you find a purple tree. Imaginations are wonderful at this age. As you are going about your day, riding in the car, etc. say things like, "do you see the yellow bus?" "What color is that bus?" Have fun and don't stress. He will learn his colors and shapes, don't worry.

I think you might need to ease up and think about whats developmentally approprate. Children know more than you think they might but may not have all the language yet. So he may be able to point out the color or shape but not be able to verbalize it. Enjoy your child and make things a game, if you have a rich enviroment with plenty of ways to learn. He will learn what he needs to. Please check to see whats age approprate for your child, pushing kids to do more than their ready to can make them fustrated and not receptive to learning. Knowing how to verbalize is fine but knowing what it means is more inportant, ex he maybe able to count to 10 but does he know the concept of 10. Like what 1 or 2 of something looks like. Best of Luck enjoy your child while now when hes young they dont stay that way long!

I taught 2 and 3 year olds for two years in a pre-school setting. I found that repetition is key. Every day we went over ABCs, #'s 1-100, Shapes and colors. In that order. You can probably find some wall shapes at a local teacher supply store. Hang them on the wall and go over them once a day with him. Teach him this is a triangle, the triangle is blue. Can you think of anything else that is shaped like the triangle? Can you think of anything else that is blue? I taught letters and number the same way. Can you think of somehthing that starts with the letter D? From August to May, most of my class of 15 - 18 kids had mastered the basics. Most of them could write their names as well, we worked on that too. I wrote the letter based on the D'nealian (you can find workshhets on the internet)style and had the child trace it. We worked on a new letter each month until they could write their whole name. It takes patience and persistence. Also some kids may take longer. You have to keep him interested and engaged, try differnt learning activities with him that involve what you are trying to teach him. Games and Songs and Puzzles. Try the DLTK website, they have tons of great resources and printable worksheets and coloring pages. Just search DLTK. Contact me if you need more ideas or websites. Don't get frustrated and good luck! :D

Why don't you start telling him things like, Lets put on your Blue shirt(or whatever color )and your white socks and so on and before long he won't be so pressured to have to tell you colors and you can have fun playing this game of naming the colors with him. Let him be the teacher for you for a while and see how that will work. Ask him what color should Mommy wear today and see what his response will be.
Just some thoughts, hope you have good luck! He sounds like a smart wonderful boy.

As a former teacher of young children, I can say that, while I applaud your enthusiasm, the job of a 2 1/2 year old is to play and have fun. At this age, ABC's and 123's are lyrics to songs, or simply a series of symbols to memorize. Colors and shapes are easily learned through interaction with the environment. Maybe the reason he doesn't want to say the names of them is because he doesn't like being tested? I would suggest reading and playing age-appropriate books and games together.

Why do you feeel the need to push him so much? He will learn during play and during stories you read to him. As a great grandmother raising a little one, I know he will only be little a short time. Enjoy this age with him.

when ever your son is in ear shot, hold up something and ask what color is this? or get me that purple or whatever color it might be object. he'll get it eventually... hang in there. and leave the television off and you read to him every night....

My advice is not to push it with him. Rather, make it part of your daily interaction rather than trying to "teach" him the lesson. For example, as you play with a ball, talk about the fact that it is a circle, what color it is, how it looks (shiny, for example). My kids liked the shape sorter toys where you have to fit the square shape through the square hole. I would sit with them and just say the name of the shape and hand it to them, then point on the sorter and say the shape of the hole. Eventually, they just started saying shapes and colors, and then I praised them for noticing the shapes and colors. Kids learn on their own time. Just keep exposing them, but through a fun way. The last thing you want to do at 2 1/2 is turn them off to learning because they feel so much pressure!

Good luck!

First off... what a great job you're doing for being 23 with a child and teaching your son so much! And for being a single parent, wow, great job. I hope you plan on homeschooling because you'd be awesome at it!
That being said, I say relax and don't worry about it. Just keep pointing at things throughout the day to teach him. Let him go at his own pace. There's no rush to learn these things, he's already way ahead of any pre-schooler. Cherish him being so little and smart!

I like Barney for shapes and colors.. but one thing I did with my children was cutting out shapes in different colors (about 12"x12") from posterboard. I had them laminated.

We would spread them on the floor and take turns calling out shapes / colors and the other person has to run to them. That's the beginning. Then we did patterns, sorting, matching - etc.

S.

You mention being frustrated. That is the key word in your letter. It is just great to have play time be a learning time too. But if you are getting frustrated, then you are not playing. You are pushing. Children will learn things, then seem to forget them, then pull them back up again and this is normal. They won't learn things until they are ready. This is normal. If you are stressed and frustrated then you are going to stress and frustrate your son. Seriously slow down your teaching him and make everything a fun game and just enjoy him. Please don't get to the point of frustration...he already knows more then most kiddos at his age.

VickiS

Children do things at their own speed, you shouldn't try to push it at his age. It will come. Most children at age 2 do not talk real good yet much less say the abphabet, and count. so it is fun and neat that he does, but Are you trying to impress somone by pushing so much?? It sounds real cute for a little squirt to do this, but that doesn't mean he is smarter than his playmates because you are working with him so much. Let up and enjoy. He is just TWO!!!

WOW! What great responses you have already received! What I see most is also what I have an opinion on, RELAX! He will get there. Baby Einstein has some great DVD's and the new Candy Land game is great. It is shaped sort of like a castle and has all sorts of shapes and colors to match on a gingerbread man card. My granddaughter also loves the original Candy Land game. She has been playing since she was about 2.5. Don't get frustrated, he will get there!

B.

V.,
First off what a great job you are doing with your little one! I think you would find a lot of help in the Montessori way of teaching! If you google Montessori you will find a lot of information to help you educate your son. You can also go to homeschool stores for extra help.
www.homeeducatorsresource.com/
That being said, I make children's educational fabric books. I have one with shapes and colors that has been so popular I sell out as fast as I can make them! It has shapes made from felt and fabric that is attached to a book with fabric cord. Children have to put the correct shapes on the correct pages. I can custom it to your little ones favorite themes or ideas. I would be happy to create something fun, affordable, and educational for you and Xayion. My etsy site is
www.babyneedsmilk.etsy.com
Have a great day!
K.

Hi V., I am Kindergarten teacher-9 yrs (these are the items I teach my students, if they haven't learned them in prekindergarten), you are on the right path to teaching him, however I have to assume that since you feel he needs to know these things at this age, you more than likely are pushing/forcing him to learn these things, which of course he will resist, and it will take much longer for him to grasp the concepts. I feel, you should allow him to learn by exploring and be free to play and enjoy being 2 1/2. Please understand that if/when he goes into a school setting, knowing these items, he will have nothing left to learn and there will nothing for him to do but possibly misbehave, while the other children are learning what he already knows; in addition if you force him before his is academically ready, you may turn him off from learning, where he will be even more resistant and dislike school/learning. BUT!!IF YOU MUST teach him, make the learning experience as positive and a F-U-N (chants, songs, bright pictures) as possible, be incredibly patient with him

It sounds like you're concentrating on him learning the words which is fine. Can he point to the colors/shapes/etc.? That would be a better indicator as to whether he understood these concepts or not, not just saying the word. Just make it a part of your normal day routine, nothing special. The candy thing could back fire on you. When you see colors or shapes at the store, point them out. When reading a book, point things our there. I really don't think it necessarily requires a video to learn. Good for you for taking an active part in his learning!

Just a reminder that boys have a much higher chance of having some form of colorblindness than girls. My dad is red-green colorblind making my boys have a 50-50 shot at it. If you have it anywhere on YOUR family tree he's got a shot at it.

Some forms of colorblindness would allow him to know some colors, but not others.

Hopefully you won't have to deal with this, but I wanted to make sure you had thought about it.

My littlest boy was slower recognizing his colors and shapes as well. But he is doing fine now. I have always been happy with the Blue's Clues shows especially the older ones with Steve. You can probably find some at the library. Books are always good, especially if rhyming is involved. I realized after awhile that he knew more than he let on.

Hang in there. They all learn different things at different rates.

We love the Baby Einstein series. Don't let the word baby fool you- they are for 2 year olds and older, as well. There are different DVD's that cover shapes, colors, numbers, etc... They are wonderful and they really kept my son's attention.

He's only 2, let him be a toddler. Quit stressing and just have colors be fun, in everyday conversation. Do you want to wear the green shirt or the red one? Would you like green peas or an orange carrot? See how green the grass is? If you relate to everyday things, they seem to grasp it better. Talk about the color of food, toys, ect. Again, he's only two, relax and enjoy this stage. Soon you'll have bigger things to stress you, cars, dating, college. It all happens way tooooooo fast. Love him all you can and the rest will follow.

My son knew is alphabet early also, but had no interest in colors until later. He'll get it when he's more interested. Since you're so interested in his cognitive development, you should check out PlayWisely. Their website is www.playwisely.com. I have several friends that have been going to their Frisco location and love it.

Please, are you paronoid ? This is way overkill. He does not need to know his colors, numbers or letters until they teach him in school. But if you are having fun, go s-l-o-w!!! He does not need candy as a reward, go High 5 or some yeas and dance around the room! There are color charts that are fun at places like Mardells and you could post them on the wall and learn one a week. Then let
s say it is red. When you eat a red food, or wear red for a day, point it out and say we are learning about red this week. Let him go to red things in your home or point to red as you read him his favorite books. Then another week, change to another color. Always make it fun and not stressful. He is just a little guy and needs some time to assemilate all this information. But back off a little.
V. B.

I haven't read the other responses so I am sorry if I am repeating. I have found that books and real life are the best ways to teach! Videos should be a treat not the main focus of learning. If your child can point to the color after you say a color then he knows his colors. He may be having difficulty saying the words. I don't know if it is still in print, but we have a book from when my 7 year old was a baby called "Clifford's School House". It is in the shape of a school house and it teaches numbers, letters, shapes and colors. Both of my son's love the book. My almost three year old still likes reading it when he is going to the bathroom.
H. M.

You have gotten some good advise. I especially liked the one about him helping with the laundry! If you read RECOVERING THE LOST TOOLS OF LEARNING you will note they memorize a lot in the early years, don't be discouraged with a minor hiccup like this. I used what interested my son to learn his colors; he liked cars. Walking in the parking lot (I parked far away) he learned his colors by cars we walked by (nice red 2door, and that blue is dark...) Keep him limited, very limited, to tv and computer as your brain doesn't work as hard on the computer as in reading. One more thing, the eyes of boys don't fully develop until they are 7 - 8 years old so don't push the reading. Then find out what he is interested in and buy books and magazines and he will want to read them. Enjoy him now, THAT's what is important.

As others have said, just have fun with your son. We had a wooder block puzzle where my son put the shapes into the appropriate hole. It was great because it helped with the motor skills, but also offered colors and shapes. My son also has a Blue's Clues video that goes over shapes and colors and he really likes it as well.

Chill out on pushing him to learn. He's 2. He has plenty of time to learn his colors. Just read books which is the MOST IMPORTANT thing you can do for him. If you continue to push him, he will only become more resistent to learning. Take it from me, I'm a teacher.

V.-

I'm pretty sure that you're stressing him out. Kids only have the ability to learn certain things at certain times in their development. So breathe deeply, and relax. You're doing a great job and you are so conscientious. You must love your son very much to want him to do so well.

That all being said, just READ, READ, READ to him. Play classical music every chance you get-in the car,at home, etc. Make sure he gets enough physical exercise. All these things help his brain develop so that the concepts you've trying to teach him will come more naturally later on.

I have 4 kids,all of whom have near genius IQs. I know what I'm talking about. Let him see you reading, limit TV (none would be good) and videos and enjoy this time that passes so quickly!

Best to you! Your son is a blessed young fella!

My kids LOVED the Fisher-Price site, which has online games, including shapes and colors. On this particular one, the kids click any key on the keyboard to go to the next shape/color. And the lady will tell them the shape and color. The shapes make funny sounds as they move in and out of the screen, and the kids think it's funny.

Here is the link: http://www.fisher-price.com/us/fun/games/colorshapes/defa....

They also have other great online games for babies/toddlers. Have fun, and I hope this helps.

I am going to second the mom who suggested perhaps he is colorblind to some degree. The distinction here is that he seems to clearly grasp his letters and numbers - so if colors are more difficult it may be that is harder for him. My oldest son had the same issue, he struggled with his colors, but learned everythign else quickly, I thought he was stubborn, lol - but as it turns out he is red-green colorblind (as is my father and several of my uncles). Once we realized that, it was so much easier for us to understand his hesitation. It was frustrating for him to say something was a certain color and for me to say, "no" - when in his mind it was that color and he could not see the distinctions.

An eye dr can perform the test, or you can actually find them online (although it may be difficult b/c he may not be able to accurately identify the shapes), do a search for isiharas (sp) test for colorblindness.

So far 2 of our 3 sons are definately red-green colorblind, and our 3rd son is leaning in that direction. It is not a big issue, not a big deal, and certainly doesn't affect them in any major way - they may not be chemists as adults, but that's ok :)

If he is not colorblind, then perhaps he is just not interested. When he is ready, he will learn his colors :)

Good luck to you!

I would keep working with him- but don't get frusrated-I think if he is only 2 1/2, he is doing great with learning- the rest will come with time.
Enjoy

Have a color day. Dress the color and go on a color hunt around your house at the park, store anywhere. Make a bingo like sheet and find your 'color' stickers and when you find something that matches...put a sticker on it. Try to eat teh color food.... Food coloring in icecream, pancakes, noodles etc, even paint your hair ... If a day is to hard make it a week to really focus on it. Fyi... My middle child woudl nto do a thing for me. Never write her name, abcs, 123s nothing but at school, she started kinder this year, she has excelled. She loves to work for her teachers. She is in the top 5 of her class.

I had this problem and it was very upsetting to me, however mine just has a certain way of learning and a long retention time. I would think about getting your son checked for color blindness, just in case.

Instead of trying to force him to learn with flashcards or videos, just incorporate whatever you want him to learn in normal conversation and play. Continual talk about everyday things he sees, like the "red rectangle that makes up the back of the firetruck" or the "sun that looks like a big yellow circle," will be much easier than trying to have a lesson. And read, read, read to him -- that makes it really easy to point out shapes, colors, objects.
If you think you are frustrated, just stop to think how frustrated he must be!

I know you have received soo many responses so far, but here is one more. While your son is young, and yes, he needs to play, he can learn at the same time. There are many great pieces of advice here about how to make learning fun. But on the off chance that he might be colorblind, here is a website you can look at that will give you more info as well as a pediatric colorblindness test. He is really too young to take to a doctor to be evaluated for colorblindness. The one I found for my sons would only do 5 years old at the youngest. This website is wonderful and talks about what info to give to teachers to help them if your son is colorblind. Good luck and feel free to email me with any questions you might have. http://colorvisiontesting.com/
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Baby Einstein has good videos (just get them from the library to see if he's even interested). Don't be frustrated! Just keep dropping the info as you come across- oh, go get your blue socks, please bring me the toy that has a square... My daughter picked most of this up from Baby Einstein and library books we read. He very young to know what he knows already, be proud of that and let him pick up the rest when he is ready. Toys that teach that might help. My daughter loves her Sesame spin and learn toy that teaches shapes and colors.

My daughter at 19 months knows most of her ABCs, some of her numbers and most of her shapes and colors. My parents bought her the touch and feel flash cards and she loves to bring them to me and share what she knows.

http://www.amazon.com/First-Touch-Feel-Picture-Cards/dp/0...

Try the Candy Land Castle game. It teaches shapes and colors. My 3.5 y/o loves it! You pull the handle and a colored shape pops out then you have to put it onto your gingerbread game card. It's a lot of fun and the better you get the faster the game goes. Learning should be fun! :)

I have to agree with the last responder . . . why are you pushing this? Children learn at their own pace and clearly it is not something he's that interested in yet. I have 3 children, ages 14, 9 and 2 and I've definitely learned that they are learning even when you don't think they are!

My eldest daughter "suddenly" started reading when she was 4 1/2 years old. I say suddenly because she never once let on that she could read the words on the pages of the books my husband and I read to her. Then one day she said "mommy, I can read this book" and boy was I shocked! Yet my 9 year old was more timid. She started Kindergarten and I knew she could read, but she was anxious about the whole thing (probably because she's a perfectionist and if she couldn't do it right the first time then she wasn't going to do it at all). But after a few weeks, once she got comfortable in her classroom environment, she was reading no problem. My 2 year has known her letters and numbers (to 20) since she was 18 months old, and in the past few weeks is getting good with her colors and shapes (sorry, Sesame Street has worked wonders with her!). But never once have I "pushed" her to learn her colors and shapes. She has books and toys about colors and shapes, and she has gradually learned in a non-stressful manner through play.

One thing you may want to try is the bathtub markers and crayons (if you don't mind the mess!).

Good luck, and don't worry about it so much!

I usually don't recommend TV as a good learning tool, but I am going to ..... my son watched Noggin, it's a cable channel and it has wonderful preschool aged programming...my son learns a lot from watching the shows on noggin...I highly recommend it.

What worked best when I taught my son was the wood shapes and colors puzzle by Melissa and Doug. We were able to make a game of it. First he learned to match them. I repeated the shape and color as he would fit the puzzle pieces. Then, as he mastered that I would ask where a certain shape and color was and he would find it and place it. I am currently doing this with my 2nd child and it seems to be working. I hope this helps. Good luck!!

try frog street press... they have shape, color, number word, and alphabet Cds and my 2 year old knows them all because of the songs... also hhe names is toys... blue monster truck etc

Plus being only 2.5 and not knowing shapes and colors is fine... Don't put so much pressure on him.. focus on what he does know....

My son enjoys DVDs from Preschool Prep. They have a Colors and a shapes one. www.preschoolprepco.com

Relax and enjoy him! He's got time to learn more stuff before starting school!

My nephew's first academic achievement around one-ish was to make animal sounds. He couldn't say any words exept Mama and Dada but he could moo like crazy! Quite fun!

Good Morning... For colors, I had my kids help me sort laundry. It seems silly, but they loved the activity. Good luck!

put your child in front of some baby learning videos every day and he would learn the stuff. Right now your child is playing you like a lolly pop :-)

believe me I have one just like him.

Dont worry so much about all of that, He will learn all that in time naturally. he's only 2.5 plus boys learn all that slower than girls. sounds like hes doing great but wait until hes 4 to worry about him not knowing shapes and colors.

He is probably NOT color blind :o) I thought my now 4 year old was color blind and it turned out he just was not ready to do colors. he now knows all colors and he just turned 4 but at 2.5-3 he did not know them at all and said everything was green...

I have 3 boys ages 5,4 and 2 and all of them are learning at different rates. but when they are 3-4 is when they really start learning lots of things and I have found the more I ask them to do things for me after the age of 2-2.5 the more they start to refuse as a matter of a power play. He may know them but just not want to let on that he knows...

They have their entire lives to learn. Enjoy this age, as it passes all to quickly.

HTH
A. J

V.,

This is simple! Just get a book that is about colors and shapes, then point to them and say the color and shape. (Actually, you might want to make them two separate books at first.)

Don't expect him to say them at all. He will absorb the information and will begin saying them on his own terms.

Pick your battles! Don't let this become something that one of you has to win over. Especially since it involves education!!

Good luck!