What to teach a 1 year old?

Jill - posted on 05/21/2012

My son is 9 mo and is learning "head shoulders knees and toes" song. he loves it! Also, singing ABCs...never to young to learn. I know a lil girl who at 2 could sing her abcs, at 3 knew upper and lower case and what came after each letter, and when you asked her what words started with (such as monkey) she could tell you (monkey starts with M) her mom was a teacher, but just goes to show you if you work with them they can learn very young.

Rachel - posted on 08/20/2010

I am constantly talking to my 1 yr old about everything we are doing...i feel like a narrator or something. i have a game that I started with him because of the your baby can read program ( which i started when he was 2 minths old) i sing the if your happy and u know it song but add different thing instead of sing the traditional clap ur hands ect i say touch your nose touch your ears ect...its a fun little game for him. he gets this look of accomplishment on his face evertime he gets one right. it is sooo cute!!

Kathleen - posted on 08/20/2010

Babies are like sponges. They absorb everything! Talk to him as if he can understand anything you say.

What to teach a 1 year old -

Teach him opposites like up and down and in and out. Teach him to count and say ABC's. Teach him body parts (eyes, nose, ears, etc). Definately teach him to pick up his toys!

Good Luck!

Bridget - posted on 08/20/2010

Thank you Kimberly, he loves to play with pens. He sees us writing and follows. He eats crayons though. He knows how to push the top of the pen so he can write. He also kind of knows how to use the screw driver since he sees us changing the batteries out of his toys. So cute. He gets so bored with all of his toys and I don't know what to get him to entertain him and to allow him to learn. He chews on a lot of things so older toys won't work. He played for 5 minutes last night just pulling little things out of a bag. I love to see his little fingers work!! I try to read him books but he won't stay still long enough or he'll rip the book out of my hand. Finger paint would be great! I'll have to find a non-toxic kind. I tried to get him to play with fondant like play doe but all he did was eat it. Thank you for your suggestions on what to teach a 1 year old! I'll have to try a few. He's interested in so many things.

Kim - posted on 08/20/2010

Talk about everything. Tell him about what is all around him, this way he learns vocabulary. Use a bigger word then repeat the sentence with a work he already knows. Read books, another great way for him to learn vocabulary. Give him crayons and let him free draw or finger paint, regular tempra paint. He'll be learning hand eye coordination and fine motor skills he'll need for writing and cutting soon. Try not to make it too formal, kids learn a lot thru play at this age.

Bridget - posted on 08/20/2010

Megan, I agree with you with the Your Baby Can Read because I don't like for him to watch the tv but he does learn from it and I play it when he's eating his breakfast or lunch. It lasts for about thirty minutes and he has picked up on a few things. He doesn't watch it completely but he loves the songs so we play it any way. It comes with flash cards too. We bought it off of ebay for not much so it wasn't a waste of money. You have a very smart 2 year old!

Megan - posted on 08/20/2010

My daughter learns things just by hearing us saying it or listening to music. We NEVER spoke baby talk to her. FOr one it teaches them nothing and for two it is annoying anyways.
She has a very large vocabulary and will answer yes and no questions with the proper answers. She has been able to dress herself for at least 10 months (She just turned 2 today!!!) She fills her own cup at the water cooler, picks up her toys and puts them away with little instruction, was crawling at 6 months and walking at 9.5 months. She knows almost every body part and will point to them. She is very loving and even though we do not have pets she absolutely loves ALL animals just from seeing how much we care and show her love.
I did flash cards with the alphabet, numbers and simple shapes.
I do not believe in the Your Baby Can Read stuff and would much rather sit with my child and teach her myself rather than the t.v.

Jean - posted on 08/19/2010

Hello, Bridget! your son is a smart kid. Oh babies nowadays are much intelligent. Keep up the good work, ei! Like you, I'm a proud momma too! in 7months my daughter can sing the alphabet. same as your child, my daughter also walked at 11 months. Now at 3 yrs old she can write her name so thus the other letters. she's going to school this September and she's so excited. Cheers! to all the moms..

Bridget - posted on 08/19/2010

Jean, babies are capable of much more. My son walked at 11 months, can use a regular cup with little assistance, can say "what's that?," and is almost completely potty trained (holds it during naps and goes on the potty about 3/4 of the day) and plenty of other things. Babies learn very quickly if they are taught.

Jean - posted on 08/19/2010

Hi! usually a one year old kid can utter words, stands up alone, prefers certain toys and books and can respond to certain requests like "sit". never baby talk. in that way your child will learn to talk fast and utter words clearly.

Gemma - posted on 08/19/2010

The great thing about them being that age i s that you acn teach them anything you like, colours, numbers, animal noises, there are plenty of books with animals and colours etc, you dont have to read them, just look at the pictures, point say "the cow goes moo" etc If you include things in your daily routine then they become routine and your child will understand eventually. you could try getting a book with facial expressions too, my baby loves "happy baby" grumpy baby" "sad baby" faces and watching me doing the faces too! he copies me and claps his hands!

Good luck to you in discovering what to teach a 1 year old and to your clever boy! :D xxx

Debbie - posted on 08/19/2010

building definately invest in legos or mega block my daughters 3 and still loves them

Ricky - posted on 08/19/2010

teach him things that will be helpful for you. for example how to help clean up, how to dress himself, his left and right, you can try colours. I am currently holding off on reading because I personally dont see the point of my 15 month old needing how to read (I figure we will work on it when he is closer to school age)

Bridget - posted on 08/19/2010

Thank you Nichole and Vanessa, my mom always taught us to clean up our toys before bed too. I'm trying with my little one but then he just wants to play with that toy. He'll get it eventually. Left and right is a great idea! He learns things within a day! It's crazy and awesome. He just learned last night how to fan himself with a piece of paper (my parents taught him that). Any time we say "yey!!" he claps. He knows "bye bye" is waving and "night night" is sleeping. And plenty others. The cutest thing ever is he's seen his grandmother (my husbands mother, she's in her 60s.. she had her last child in her 40s) bend over and grunt so now every time he bends over he grunts too!! haha. Thank you for the suggestions on what to teach a 1 year old.

Vanessa - posted on 08/19/2010

My son is starting to learn the Pick Up Your Toys Before Bed game. We always clean up all his toys and put them away before I lay him down. He's starting to get the idea and we only started a week ago.

MamaTo2 - posted on 08/19/2010

You could try teaching him left and right just by repetition. It's simple and it's something you can just add into your regular activities. Like when you put his shoes on say "left foot!" as you put on the left shoe and "right foot!" as you put on the right. Same with putting legs in pants and arms in shirts, or when you're washing him in the bath. I do this already with my 10 mo old. I know he doesn't understand but I figure when he does start to understand it'll be gradual so hearing me say the words regularly will just go right along with his development and help him learn as soon as he's ready instead of waiting til *I* realize he's ready.

Spanish is always good, especially since your son is still so young, he's probably just barely learning to talk, which studies show is the opportune time to learn alternate languages. Plus, he doesn't know many words yet as it is so you don't need to know a ton of Spanish to incorporate it in your daily routines.

Another thing I'm already teaching my 10 month old is cleaning up his toys. Before every nap, bedtime, leaving the house, etc, I show him how to help me put the toys in the box and he thinks it's great fun!! Obviously I know he's too young at this point to understand personal responsibility and I don't expect him to just clean up his messes, but I feel like I'm setting the stage for later when it comes time to teach him about picking up after yourself, respecting your belongings, and doing chores if I start making the act of picking up a habit now and make a game of it.

Kathleen - posted on 08/20/2010

Babies are like sponges. They absorb everything! Talk to him as if he can understand anything you say.

What to teach a 1 year old -

Teach him opposites like up and down and in and out. Teach him to count and say ABC's. Teach him body parts (eyes, nose, ears, etc). Definately teach him to pick up his toys!

Good Luck!

Bridget - posted on 08/20/2010

Thank you Kimberly, he loves to play with pens. He sees us writing and follows. He eats crayons though. He knows how to push the top of the pen so he can write. He also kind of knows how to use the screw driver since he sees us changing the batteries out of his toys. So cute. He gets so bored with all of his toys and I don't know what to get him to entertain him and to allow him to learn. He chews on a lot of things so older toys won't work. He played for 5 minutes last night just pulling little things out of a bag. I love to see his little fingers work!! I try to read him books but he won't stay still long enough or he'll rip the book out of my hand. Finger paint would be great! I'll have to find a non-toxic kind. I tried to get him to play with fondant like play doe but all he did was eat it. Thank you for your suggestions on what to teach a 1 year old! I'll have to try a few. He's interested in so many things.

Gemma - posted on 08/19/2010

The great thing about them being that age i s that you acn teach them anything you like, colours, numbers, animal noises, there are plenty of books with animals and colours etc, you dont have to read them, just look at the pictures, point say "the cow goes moo" etc If you include things in your daily routine then they become routine and your child will understand eventually. you could try getting a book with facial expressions too, my baby loves "happy baby" grumpy baby" "sad baby" faces and watching me doing the faces too! he copies me and claps his hands!

Good luck to you in discovering what to teach a 1 year old and to your clever boy! :D xxx

Bridget - posted on 08/19/2010

Thank you Nichole and Vanessa, my mom always taught us to clean up our toys before bed too. I'm trying with my little one but then he just wants to play with that toy. He'll get it eventually. Left and right is a great idea! He learns things within a day! It's crazy and awesome. He just learned last night how to fan himself with a piece of paper (my parents taught him that). Any time we say "yey!!" he claps. He knows "bye bye" is waving and "night night" is sleeping. And plenty others. The cutest thing ever is he's seen his grandmother (my husbands mother, she's in her 60s.. she had her last child in her 40s) bend over and grunt so now every time he bends over he grunts too!! haha. Thank you for the suggestions on what to teach a 1 year old.