June 12, 2009

The Pressure to Teach

Lately I have been feeling pressure to teach Everly things like the ABC song, or rote counting etc.  No one is pressuring me, but when I hear other mom's and Nanny's going on about how their 2 year olds can count to 20 or sing their ABC's for spell their names it starts to get to me.

I have finished and am currently reading another book that really encourage you not to push those types of skills at an early age.  It makes sense to me.  Everly is interested in exploring the world, not being drilled with rote learning.  She loves to do anything physical, so I try to encourage that.  Still when you have a little girl who many people say seems very bright, I do start to feel like I am failing since she doesn't know her ABCs.  She does recognize numbers and does know part of the song. 

With counting she actually really enjoys it!  She can count to 2 and I think that is great.  She can count if something is one, or if it is two.  We are "working on 3", but I guess I am more interested in her actually understanding what a number represents than being able to count to some high number.

1 comment:

Mommy2O&E said...

I can relate, and feel the same way! I want my son to learn letters because he wants to read, or wants to know. I want him to understand numbers, not just rattle off "counting" and not know what it means. But I struggle with the same issue, and it's hard to stay out of the "one-up" mommy game... It's good to know I'm not alone in this!!