Where do you find fun learning books - work books- of letters and numbers for a 2 year old?
Thanks everyone! I hadn't been looking because I didn't know that my son was interested, so it's good to know that they are not hard to find. My 2 year old surprised me one night and learned about 10 letters with his dad while I was gone for an hour. He was using the ABC magnets. He LOVES them and plays every day, telling me what the letters are. So I thought it would be fun to get him some books. By asking for work books, I meant that I want him to be able to draw, color, glue, whatever he wants to do. I want them to be a little more disposable than buying a letter or number book for 10 dollars. I'm not going to sit him down and make him trace letters and numbers. :) I just want him to have fun learning since he's already so interested. He can barely talk (mild speech disorder) but he's already counting to 10 by himself. I'm glad he is showing such interest in these things! So thanks, I will check out all those stores and the online help. I really appreciate it!
Barnes and Noble has a fantastic section of fun learning workbooks. I have found several that my little guys enjoy!
I love the selection at costco. It changes but i always love looking at what they have because they have some really great stuff. There is also a fun website for letters and learning how to read: www.starfall.com. It has a lot of interactive games with letters and stuff. Another place to check sometimes for good deals is TJMax. Walmart has some magnetic and foam alphabet and letters in their dollar section.
If you have a Target store in your area, they have a pretty decent selection. I found our daughter some books that are the wipe off kind there that you use crayons or the dry erase markers and it will wipe off with a tissue.
I actually found quite a few nice workbooks at The Dollar Tree. You have to search for them in some stores, others have them on a separate stand in the coloring book aisle. You will pay a little more, but you can also find them at Walmart, Target, sometimes even Walgreens near the coloring books. You will often see a large selection at bookstores like Borders or Barnes and Noble in the children's section. I have even seen them at Staples or Office Max too. Of course, you will see a very large selection at teaching stores like Lakeshore Learning as well. If you want to save the most money though, you can actually print off a lot of worksheets like the kind you find in those workbooks online at places like abcteach.com. Just put in words like "Preschool printables" in the search bar and a million places that offer free printable worksheets of various kinds will pop up! Happy hunting!
Workbooks are not developmentally appropriate for a 2-year-old. Neither are flash cards. Not to say you can't start teaching her letters, numbers, colors, and shapes. But do it through your environment. There are letters and numbers, shapes and colors all around you. Integrate them into your daily conversations ("Look, there's a M on the milk carton" "this shirt is red" "I see a triangle here" - tracing it with your finger).
And don't underestimate the power of reading to her every day. Story books of whatever she is interested in. Put her in your lap and hold the book so you can both see it. Talk about the pictures, and put your finger under the words as you read. Reading to children every day is the biggest predictor of success in school - bigger than them knowing letters and numbers and all that. And a lot will come naturally as you read a variety of fun books.
The Dollar Tree in Spanish Fork and in Provo both have a good supply of the best letters/numbers workbooks. They are the same ones you find in the grocery store (Disney, Sesame Street characters) but so much more economical!
Right now Target's dollar spot section has lots of workbooks, learning letters and other school related items.
Mardel Christian and educational supply has a good selection and it is not all religiously based.
I like Carrie J's suggestion of the wipe-off kind. My mom gave my son some work books when he was 3 because he was doing so well learning letters and numbers, but he was more interested in coloring the pictures that decorated the pages than tracing or writing the characters, so the "workbook" part was wasted on him. It wasn't until he was 4 and in preschool that he wanted to actually write the letters. So I think a wipe-off or magnetized writing pad kind would be great for a 2 yr old.
Utah Idaho Map Supply is a store geared to teachers but I go in to get stuff for my daughter, we got a bunch of little fish for counting practice. There are great workbooks there and also idea books on things to do with your kids for activities.
as for age, I know that I would have never believed a 2 year old could be doing a lot of this kind of stuff but I have a nephew who is just really really quick and smart, he's 4 now and has whole books memorized frontwards AND backwards...he's known his alphabet since he was 2. He knows ALL the flags of the world and what countries they belong to, and it has ALL been guided by him asking questions wanting to know more and his mom (my sister I'm so proud to say) has continued to let him take lead and provide him with the educating tools he needs for the things he is wanting to learn. So, I don't think you can ever straight across the board say a 2 year old (or any age for that matter) should or should not be doing a specific thing. some kids have awesome attention spans, I've seen it. My own daughter is great--smart kid but not as focused as my nephew. I would be extremely intimidated to be his mom but my sis just takes it all in stride! (not that I am not intimidated being a mom period...) kids all learn different ways--I think it is great that you are taking time to be with your child and work with your child.
ps there is a utah idaho supply store in Layton off of antelope in a strip mall right before Hill Field, the starbucks is on the corner and the store is just before that on the north side. it's not as big as the one in Murray off of State (I think it's still there) but it still has a large variety of stuff
Do you mean coloring and activity books, or homework-type books? Because I doubt you'd find "workbooks" for a 2 year old. They don't have the fine motor skills or attention span to do "work." And why would you want to make a 2 year old do that, anyway?
If you want to give your child a head start on learning letters and numbers, I highly recommend the Leap Frog video learning series. Namely the Talking Letter Factory, and maybe the Math Circus. We borrowed the Talking Letter Factory from the library, but it's hard to get them (they're in high demand). I finally broke down and bought them. They're only ~$8 each at Walmart. I felt good about my boys watching them over and over again. I've had friends who also showed them to their kids, and didn't have quite the same results, but I'll tell you what happened for my boys.
My oldest son learned his letters and sounds at about age 3, and started sounding out words at 3 1/2. My younger son was 1 at the time, and he surprised us when he got the Leap Frog magnet letters toy for Christmas at age 19 months. We pulled out the magnet letters one by one, and he knew half of them, and the sounds they made! He knew all the letters, upper- and lower-case, and all the sounds, before he turned 2. He could also count to 9. Now that he's barely 3, he's sounding out words and likes to type them on the computer.
My oldest son also leaped from the Math Circus to teach himself addition and subtraction when he was 4. He now does multiplication (at age 5) and reads incredibly well (he can read the Chronicles of Narnia and James and the Giant Peach, although he says he prefers books that he can read all at once) before he's in kindergarten.
I'm not saying that Leap Frog did this for my kids. My husband and I were both in gifted programs when we were kids, and our kids are obviously gifted. But I do credit the Leap Frog movies with teaching them all their letters and sounds, and some math, so early. They're fun and captivating, unlike drilling and worksheets.
I like the books and learning materals I have found at Alphabet Station on 1300 E and 3300 s. in Salt Lake City. There are also flashcards avaiable at different stores with numbers, shapes and colors. There are lots of easy things you can make by hand as well that are comparable to those found in stores and just as good. Good Luck P.
We used 2 things:
Bath sponge letters from ToysRUs. Our daughter learned her alphabet by 18 mo's from those. We would lay the letters out and repeat them or we would use them when we played the They Might Be Giants CD "123's" in conjunction with the songs.
We also used flash cards. One person who responded felt they were inappropriate for a 2 year old. We didn't feel that way at all since we used them like a book at night. We would go through each letter (which had a picture associated with it) and just repeat the cards night after night. We would read the letter, then the picture. So when she'd get to that card we'd point to the letter and then the picture and she learned to identify both. She had great fun with it and learned her alphabet.
Good luck!
I get the workbooks for my children at WalMart. They have an okay selection. You may want to search for some teacher/learning stores online and see what they offer. Maybe even contact the local elementary school and find out what they recommend. Good luck!
Make it a GREAT day!
S.
