So DD is 2 1/2 and can count past 10 and knows most of her ABC's but I cannot get her to get her colors. If you point to something and say what color is this she says "color". So I tried to change my phrasing. This is green... what is this? She then says "color" I've tried real life objects and flash cards but nothing is sticking. I'm I expecting to much by trying to get her to learn her colors?
My son learned the true names for colors very late. He referred to them by their Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends name. Blue was Thomas-color. Green was Percy-color. Red was James-color. Black was Mavis-color. I couldn't remember all the engine's names, much less what color they were! I had him evaluated when he was three, because I thought he might have speech problems. The evaluator was fine with him renaming the colors. She was more concerned with his ability to match same colors. So, she'd say, put the green car on the green dot (and I'd translate, "put the Percy-colored car on the Percy-colored dot). I'd focus more on finding objects of the same color rather than calling it by its right name. I'd show her a green crayon one day, and all that day we'd search for things that are green. She might start calling green "grass-color" or yellow "sun-color"; according to the evaluator we had, that's ok.
I've tried that dressing her in green, showing her green, coloring with green, etc. She doesn't seem to make any connection but she can pick up other things that are unrelated like someone's name almost instantly. This vacation we worked on identification of colors, numbers, and the actual number (like 6 instead of 6 cats). Directions like right and left she gets great. I'm very artsy and the color thing kind of bothers me. I keep it basic roygbiv (except I say purple instead of violet and I don't use indigo) but still it irks my tater.
I think you are expecting too much. She is only 2 1/2. If she gets it, WONDERFUL! If she doesn't, then it will come with time.
I totally agree. She is a toddler for crying out loud, let her have some time to be a kid! I am a very firm believer that if you start teaching them too young that they will burn out from it, and it wil bite you in the butt later. You absolutely NEED to read this.. and remember this was written thinking of a 4 year old, not a 2 year old!!! http://www.magicalchildhood.com/articles/4yo.htm My kids have all been "unschooled" for preschool ages. My oldest started K knowing how to read on a second grade level, he was doing math on a 1st grade level... he learned it just by living life and if he asked how to do something I showed him.. like HE asked me to learn his colors, and that was when he learned. DD (4) is asking to learn to read.. I bought her HOP and we are starting that.. DS (3) tags along or wanders off.. it's his choice.. as is is DDs.
As others have said, your daughter seems to be as sharp as a tack, so why worry? Just to put a different slant on this, though: Of every 100 children, about 6 boys and one girl are likely to experience some degree of colorblindness - often involving just one color. You mentioned green a lot: Could you try using other colors to see whether it makes a difference?
I used green because it was the first thing that came to mind. My DH has problems with colors like he doesn't see red. He only knows it is red because it is the only color he doesn't see. So he knows a red light is on the top or on the left but doesn't actually see red he only knows that because someone has told him. My daughter appears to not have any idea of colors around her. I've picked up lighning mcqueen toy and said lightning mcqueen is red, then said what is lightning mcqueen and she will say "color" It just strikes me as weird that a kid who picks up almost everything doesn't pick up on this one thing.
I wouldn't worry about it either. Colors, are certainly something that will be learned even if late. But I don't think that 2 and a half is late. My youngest is 5 now, and i'm guessing she learned hers well at around 3 and a half. No biggie, yours seems like a smart little cookie !!!
Took me a while to realize that my middle son just didn't know what the word "color" meant. He knew green, he knew red and yellow... but he didn't know that those WERE "colors". So we changed the way we talked about it - and that's how we taught a lot of things at that age, just talking about it. Instead of saying, "The grass is green," we would say, "The color of the grass is green." Ds who is now 6 was almost 4 before he was able to answer the question, "What color is this?"
We have changed the way we phrased the question and continued with it for a week or two, when she still wasn't getting it we tried it a different way. I even tried using marshmellows and gummies but still not actual color stuck.... We just keep trying throught the day,when she gets bored or restless we stop and try again later, we've been at it for almost a month and a half.
Ahhh, I get it. You have a genetic basis for your concern. I'd give it a year and then consult a doctor if she still seems like she can not distinguish between all the colors.
I know how frustrated you are! My son is 4 and it isn't colors for him it is the name of meals. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner. If he refers to a meal ever it is breakfast...no matter what time of day it is. When I explain, over and over, that we eat breakfast in the morning, lunch in the afternoon, and dinner in the evening he seems to understand. But then when I ask him when we eat lunch he just guesses. It's really weird. Hopefully it's just a stage.
Belive me I understand. It took one day to learn my aunts name Graciela but it's been almost 60 days and she can't identify the color of the shoes she wears everyday. They are green by the way. Here is a better example if you show her the cincinnati reds logo. She says "baseball reds, go reds!" If you ask her what color the logo is she says "color". Even if we shower her the "C" and she says her little baseball reds, we praise her and say that's right it is red. then point to a red gummy bear she says "color" or "gummy bear"
I whole heartily agree with the others. She will get it in time and until she does you could try making it a game with the name of the colors on the flash card and the actual color used as well, and perhaps attach it to a toy of the same color with a clothes pin. First start out asking her to get you the toy by the name. When she brings it to you, you say the name of the toy, read the card by pointing to each letter and saying the color. Once she gets used to this "game" you switch it up by asking her to get you the toy by color. ... Just a thought
This is very true.. my oldest can not distinguish blue from purple or purple from blue. When he was in public school it was very embarrassing to him to have a teacher ridicule him for this in front of the whole class on more than one occasion. We worked with our eye dr and he said he isn't colorblind, his eyes are just lazy on those colors. My dad was colorblind, so when Garrett's color confusion became obvious we were quite concerned. The eye dr said it is very common, esp with blue and purple. Given that her dad has some color issues, then I do say it is something to keep an eye on, but I still think she is just a little kid and not to worry and not to push. No you don't have to order the cards here.. but this might help you to see that she is not colorblind.... http://colorvisiontesting.com/online test.htm#demonstration card
First of all I am with Sommer, my stars she is a baby, let her be a baby, Why are you in a hurry for her to grow up and know everything? Are you trying to prove something to someone, that is what its looking like to me. Let her be a baby, just hand her something red and say red as you hand it to her, if she gets it she gets it if not go on. She will get in time. She is a baby let her play and have fun, she will have enough time in her life to do all that school stuff. Don't push her like Sommer said she will burn out. I have a deep feeling in a few years we will have something on the news about all these kids being push to learn and now are burnt out and teachers are having trouble with them. I think its so dumb they are starting K3 here this fall. What the child goes to school at the age of three ok what are they going to learn in K when they are 5. we are pushing them way to hard. Remember when we went to K to learn our colors, shape, numbers, ABC, now they have to know all that to enter, and read.. I think it's so sad. So, if it was me I would just hand her things in different color and say this is orange or this read, then ask her to repeat it and go from there. Relax and have fun with her in a few years you will say where did the time go? I know I am and my girls are 16 and 14 I never pushed either one of them and they both are smart and a head of everyone.
First off I'm not pushing her, she doesn't repeat the color she only says "color", Second of all both DH and I entered K, with at least 2nd grade knowledge. Both of us were rejected from Pre-K for knowing to much as the teacher put it. I suspect you all think I'm setting her down in a desk and we are doing "school", I am teaching her things while we play, I'm noticing that she isn't catching on while we play. So I tried fash cards which she didn't catch on to either. We are teaching her nothing more then what the local daycares, or montessori schools are teaching, which is skills through play. My problem is she is not learning the skill of colors, not one, no matter how much we try, we play, we simply repeat it, it doesn't make one iota of difference.
She may not be ready. My 4 year old just picked up on them. The neat thing is my older ones are learning sign language and she could sign some of the colors before she could say them. Then we started working on them again. Maybe you should just give it a break for a while and she will get it when she is ready. I definately think children learn in different orders. Play with counting or the ABC song, etc...
