Recommendations for babies and toddlers

[mystery]

I am having to face the fact that whatever you do, some children enjoy reading more than others. Non-fiction can develop vocab very well too.

Vocab development comes loads of different ways though. Did you have a reason for thinking this was the issue on which the narrow miss was based?

[Fran17]

I agree with Mystery. Information books do a great job of expanding a child's vocabulary. My DS3 loved information books when he was young. He read about dinosaurs, planets, the universe, wild life, sea life, plants, insects etc. It certainly didn't do him any harm.

As other posters have said you seem to be doing all the right things.

I would do anything to go back in time for just half and hour to when each of mine were three months old, just to enjoy a lovely cuddle. Good luck to your DD in her new school.

[mystery]

Oh and this is my latest thought. Lots of children these days seem to play educational apps on their parents' knees at pre-school age while watching older siblings' swimming lessons etc. My theory is that it is these children who make it into the top maths group at our school in year 1 as their fast mental arithmetic recall is prized by the teachers.

But back to the vocab issue - I do sympathise as my older child is not an avid reader of any sort of book unless it is Horrid Henry just now. I don't think this will expand her vocabulary. I did all the right things with her.

[hermanmunster]

I agree with Mystery. Information books do a great job of expanding a child's vocabulary. My DS3 loved information books when he was young. He read about dinosaurs, planets, the universe, wild life, sea life, plants, insects etc. It certainly didn't do him any harm.

As other posters have said you seem to be doing all the right things.

I would do anything to go back in time for just half and hour to when each of mine were three months old, just to enjoy a lovely cuddle. Good luck to your DD in her new school.

All this - definitely - especially the cuddle.

[DC17C]

Oh and this is my latest thought. Lots of children these days seem to play educational apps on their parents' knees at pre-school age while watching older siblings' swimming lessons etc. My theory is that it is these children who make it into the top maths group at our school in year 1 as their fast mental arithmetic recall is prized by the teachers.

But back to the vocab issue - I do sympathise as my older child is not an avid reader of any sort of book unless it is Horrid Henry just now. I don't think this will expand her vocabulary. I did all the right things with her.

I am not sure about the maths apps as my DS is naturally able at maths and I have done nothing to encourage this and we don't use any maths programs at home and he does minimal homeowork- he just seems to get maths and enjoys it at school and has got to level 5a at the end of yr 5.
DS has never read much at home but apparently always has his nose in a book at school. I have read lots to DS and that seems to still have helped with his vocabulary and comprehension. He has listened to all the Harry Potters, Narnia, Percy jackson, 39 Clues,lots of michael Morpurgo and all sorts of other brilliant books. At 9 and half yrs he has suddenly taken to reading for himself and in a matter of months has read all the Diary of a wimpy kids books, the Hunger games series, Henderson Boys and Cherub books. His reading age is much the same as his 11 yr old sister who was reading to herself at 5/6 yrs.

[doodles]

The cuddle is certainly the most important bit for a 3 month old.

[Looking for help]

I have to say that the thought of 11+ exams did not cross my mind when any of mine were small. My first three were born in Scotland and there's no selection there.

I wouldn't give a single thought to what you will do to help your son to pass - I never did anything differently with mine, yet the first three passed, and the last didn't. . Just the usual, cuddles, plenty of play and attention. Books, whether you read to him till he's 10 or whether he's reading himself at 3.

Whatever you do, don't let the 11+ rule your life now, it is not worth it.

[SamB]

Thanks all, all very good points.

It goes without saying that cuddles and kisses are without doubt the best thing that I can give him and from a selfish point of view, I know that it won't last forever so I'm getting as many in as possible whilst I can

Whilst I'm enjoying my cuddle time and looking forward to enjoying more in the early years, I still want to ensure that I have a rough plan - it's just in my nature. I think I'll follow a very similar path as I did with my DD. In the main, I will look to vary the material that we read and really get him to enjoy reading a variety of literature. In terms of numeracy, I was very lucky with my DD, she has always been a whizz at maths and from a very young age she would crave maths puzzles, games and worksheets. DD has always been an able child and recently sat the level 6 SAT's in English and Maths. In her words; 'they were easier than I thought'. I'm guessing that it simply benefits the schools to have the year 6 students sit level 6 rather than benefiting the children. Anyway, that's probably an issue to be discussed elsewhere on this forum!

[yoyo123]

having said all this children are different.

I did all the things with my son that I did with my daughter ( 4 years older than him), one of her favourite things at bedtime was to pick a letter on her alphabet duvet cover and think of all the things she could that began with that letter. My son's reaction to this was " yeah, yeah, just get on with the story.."

[SamB]

Whatever you do, don't let the 11+ rule your life now, it is not worth it.

I think in the back of my head I'm always going to be thinking about it, I found the whole process quite stressful the first time and I don't relish the prospect of going through it again - even if it is 10 years away. I really need to take heed of this advice.