First Time MOM

Never to young to start. My son has been counting to three since he was about 14 months old. Now he is 19 months and he can count to 5 and knows several of his color as well as right and left. It all depends on how you teach them. I started right at birth, just talking to my son. It wasn´t very intentional, but I would say, "Ok, give me your left foot, please!" whenever I was dressing him, and grab his left foot, then "Now the right foot" and grab that one. After a while, he just started sticking the correct foot out. The same works for all this stuff. Just talk all the time!:D I´m a big talker, so I just keep up a running commentary, "You´re playing with your blue car" or "How many scoops of milk go into your bottle? one, two, three . . ." It really works. Kids just suck up everything around them at this age. Formal learning won´t be such a big hit until later on. Another thing you can do with your daughter, if she likes to color, is to get her some fun number and ABC coloring books. Color with her and talk to her about the pages. "I´m going to color the number four. I´m going to make it red." That way she will learn numbers, colors, etc. You can also find some fun songs to sing and make up actions to go with them. Kids love that and learn music faster than regular lessons.

It's never too early to teach a child ABC's 123's ect. The best way to do this and to catch and maintain their attention is to make learning fun. Make it into a game, never ever go down the dry root of learning, where it's boring and un-interesting. You can also incorporate learning 123's with every day life. Count the item's of fruit as you put them in a bowl, the bath toys as they hit the water, use your imagination and the possibilities are endless.

I try & teach my daughter new things every day - so far we get to 1, 2, 3 - she doesn't repeat them back or anything yet but she knows if she's sitting on your lap & you say 1 2 3, she'll be tossed in to the air on the count of 3 so she braces herself or starts grinning like a nut! She's only 13 months & we've been doing it for ages, so no, it's never too early to start, they'll pick it up eventually! Just start simple, 123, use blocks or toys, then when she has the numbers, you can do 456! Wait a little until you throw the alphabet in there but my niece, who is 4 now, knows the alphapet from start to finish so the more you practise, the more she'll pick it up!

I agree with Guatemom - kids absolutely LOVE songs. my boys are 3 & 6, & both have been blessed with great singing voices. they absolutely love to learn new songs, the sillier the better, and the rhythms help them remember things longer. the alphabet song is great, but also find silly songs about colors, numbers, etc. - i especially love sesame street - kids remember stuff from there so well!

Go ahead and get started! We count all day long (my son will be two in October) and we sing the ABCs. We look at lots of alphabet books too. If your child is not in day care, try to set aside at least 30 minutes a day for learning. Hang pictures of animals, letters and numbers at eye level around her room. Its almost learning by osmosis (sp)!