Hello All,

I am a mother of a young boy who turned 2 in March 2008. He was toilet trained by 18 months, counted to 50 by 22months and also recognised and mouthed 2 dimensional shapes i.e circle, square, parallelogram, trapezium, hexagon.. etc. He also recognised and could say both primary and secondary colours. Could recognise and say over 20 animals by 23 months and by 24 months knew most his the alphabet and could associate the letters to a few words e.g. "A is for apple, O is for octopus".

He loves to be told stories and could listen while you read story after story all day long. He can recognise all the numbers to 30 and enjoys the maths lessons I do with him everyday to help maintain his interest. And can count items and objects effortlessly.

He asks a lot of questions i.e. "What is that", "Who is that", and so forth. He is an outgoing, buoyant little dynamo, with a very sensitive side to him. From the age of 14months he would cry at slow songs. And to date he would cry if he hears songs that are sad and asks them to be "turned off" or he turns to another station using the remote himself. He loves all kinds of music but at the moment has a thing for classical music especially the piano. So we try and have the television on the classical music channel sometimes. He also enjoys listening to Chris Brown's Kiss Kiss which is his favorite dance tune!

The concern that I have is that he goes to a montessori nursery a few days a week to ensure that he builds his social skills. But after having discussions with his teacher I found that they are not spending any real time teaching him or building on his academics and was told that I should not spend time teaching him at home, but to let him enjoy himself.

I am worried that they are not nurturing his full potential and not working to the same level I know that he can. The reason that I have not moved him is that he loves the nursery so much and they treat him well, with love and kindness and lets him be himself, which I believe is the most important aspect of any daycare. And if he had a choice between nursery and going to the park, nursery wins hands down. And if we are driving in the area, near his nursery he asks to go even on the weekend.

As a mother I want the best for him but am I worrying too much?

Hi there, sounds like you might well have a gifted child on your hands or at the very least one that is very bright.

It sounds like the scenario of you teaching him at home and then going to nursery to play is working very well for you both at the moment, so, I would say that you have no cause to worry at the moment (I know, you are a mum, it goes with the job :-))

Perhaps you need to start looking at what Primary school he will go to and especially if they are going to stretch him or are they going to insist that he does what all the others do, in which case he will be bored and frustrated and possibly misbehave.

Good Luck

Hi, thank you for your response you are right I should be concentrating on his primary school and look at the bigger picture. He will start school at 5 yrs old so I should concentrate on what and how they will be teaching him.

Many thanks

Nursery schools I think focus more on socializing kids to get along.
I don't see anything wrong with teaching them because I learned to read by the time I was six and knew how to count, etc... Back then you didn't learn that until you were six.
Just make sure his learning is fun and/or interesting and not a burden that burns his desire to learn out.

If you want to nurture his learning then that is something that you should do at home. The daycare will not do that with a child his age because other children his age would be confused. Unless you are willing to pay someone to spend one on one time with your child to teach him the things you want him to learn, then he will have to conform to the program that other children his age are doing.

It sounds like he enjoys it, you don't have to teach 24/7, let him be a kid too, that's what the daycare is doing. He has plenty of time to learn everything else, and he will probably always be ahead, but this experience will help him learn to play with others and also to be a kid.

Good Luck

Yes, kids need time to be kids, so let him have time to play with other kids. Teaching at home can be great also, but they need to also learn to share with other kids, take turns and so on

All responses have made me think about where he is now and it has really helped. He really does enjoy learning and I will continue to make it fun and interesting. And balanced with the nursery I guess at the moment he does have the best of both worlds, parents that love him and a daycare that provides a loving and caring environment for him to build friendships, confidence and allow him to develop a sense of himself.

Many thanks

Yes, day care is just that day care in most programs and not until it changes to a kindergarten prep that most change to be a learning.
But to be honest he is getting close to a lot of what they teach there.

We took our youngest out of his day care because they were just baby sitting and in hind site some things are best done in moderation

There is a difference between a Nursery School and a Day Care. Both foster socialization and communication often through play (the Montessori method). But, Nursery Schools also prepare children for the routines of a typical school day. Nursery Schools often teach some form of academics depending on the age of the class- while 2 year olds will focus on the socialization; the three year old class might focus on counting and colors; the four year old class might focus on writing their names and holding a pencil correctly.

Is your son in a preschool (nursery school) or in day care?