18 Month Old Can Count to 10 - Havertown,PA

My son could count to ten when he was 18 months and knew all of his ABC's before he was 2 plus a few sight words. By the time he was 3, he was reading Dr. Seuss books on his own, and entered kindergarten reading at a 3rd grade level. He mostly picked this up from Sesame Street. Brilliant, right? Well, I can show you a pile of fail notices, notes from teachers and, and one pleading email from a priest who taught him religion in high school. I thought that poor man was going to quit the priesthood the day my son put a very rude remote controlled noismaker under Father's classroom podium. LOL! It's funny now, but not so much back then.

My son will be 20 soon. He's a great person, hard worker and majoring in meteorology at a state university. It took him quite a while to figure out that he actually had to do some work to get good grades. In fact, he didn't figure out that little bit of wisdom until we refused to pay his college tuition and he went to community college for a year and paid for it all himself. That's when I told him he was a genius, when he figured out that he was wasting HIS money if he failed a class. What a run that kid gave me!
By contrast, my youngest is a Stepford Student. Does every assignment, gets good grades and his teachers sing his praises to me at every opportunity. He could barely read until about the middle of first grade. He also never smiled and rarely talked. We really thought he had a serious delay. Can't shut the guy up now. He's 6'4" of good-natured, straight A fun.
You just never know about kids. Hang on, enjoy the ride, and don't make any plans!

My daughter Kendall is/was the same way. She is 2 1/2 now and she can count up to at least 50, in both English and Spanish, speak in full sentences and hold a full adult conversation with you if you talk to her. She sings all the songs to the movies she loves and knows all of the words. So it is not silly to think she is advanced. My husband and I have decided that when she is older we wanted to get her tested to see what her IQ is. Its not bragging I have an incredibly smart child...and you may too!

All kids develop and learn things at different rates. My son is 20 months and barely talks, but a friends daughter can count. But then my son does things that her daughter has not even tried yet like dressing himself and potty training. So, I would say your daughter is right on track. Enjoy her!

J.,

I don't think it is unusual for a child to count to ten at that age, especially if she has someone working with, teaching and encouraging her, as I bet your baby girl does :-) I say it doesn't matter right now if she is exceptionally bright or not. Treat her like she is, and do that for the rest of her life. She will blossom under that assumption.

As she gets older, tell her how smart she is, and use the fact that she could count to ten when she was 18 months as an example. Even if it's not super unusual for a child to be able to do it, that information will be tangible enough for her to invest in your assertions of her intelligence. And of course, assume she can progress and teach her more and more.

I really don't remember whether or not my daughter was counting at that age, she's 10 now. I do recall that she was reading little books when she was 3, and could sound out almost any word. Most notably, she was advanced when she felt confident, and began to regress when she became uncertain. Thus the reasons for my advice, to affirm. My daughter became uncertain even with lots of affirmation. Children's sense of self are seriously challenged once they get to about the fourth, fifth and sixth grades. The stronger the foundation of support, and the more attentive and sensitive the support network around her is as it relates to these things, the better she'll work those issues out.

When your daughter is older, and the time is right, you can have her tested to see if she is mentally gifted. Either way,I say treat her like she is and just go ahead and believe it. Asume she has genius, and then work to uncover it and show it to her, and she'll be the biggest rose you ever did see.

I felt the same way about my son. We even sent him to a private school because we didn't feel that he would thrive in public school. He is 8 years old now and he is still incredibly smart but he is like any other child in that he doesn't have much common sense. But even if your child isn't a genius, children are like sponges. Keep teaching them and they will thrive. I wanted my son to develop a love for learning and I'm glad I sent him to the private Montessori school, they also teach children a love of learning.

Just don't become so obsessed with the "genius" part that you push too much. Some of our family members and friends (unintentionally) pushed too much with my son and he started to pull back. For example, when he was about 18 mos old he could count in Spanish up to 15. Whenever we were around family or friends they wanted to hear him do it. My son got so tired of it that he refused to even learn more Spanish until a year or so later and even then it was only in spurts. He now loves Spanish in school. If you feel the need to "show off," try video taping your child in the moment and then you'll always have that for "wowing" your friends and family. It's great to be proud of your child, all parents brag, it's our nature. Just be careful not to turn your child into a performer, our son got treated like a seal at a circus. People would offer him cookies, cake, etc to "wow" them. It's really easy to become so excited about it that you don't even realize you are doing it. No one did it intentionally, it just happens.

i have one of those too. when my daughter was that age she could not only count to 10 but she new her alphabet could spell her name both first and last and her name is not a 3 letter name. she was off the charts for most of the developmental stuff. you should keep working with your child and she will only get better. my daughter in now almost 4 and just started preschool and when i see her with the kids in her class she is miles ahead of them in her langauge skills as well as other developmental skills. it's great to have them ahead of the game!!

My daughter was able to count to 10 at 18 months, too. In fact, I think she started before that. I feel like she's way ahead of most toddler's her age, too. I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that I'm a SAHM and she was the first. She's 2 1/2 now and I have a 3 month old.