I think you're doing what a mom should do which is play with your kids and teach them as you go. That's exactly what I did with my kids and as a mom who interacts with them closely you notice when something seems a little off for that child. Don't worry sweetie, it sounds like you're doing fine. I think I would go the route of not asking her to say anything. I would hand her a car and say, "red car." And then move on without asking her to identify the color. Maybe over a couple months that will emphasize the point without any stress for either of you. It seems to me that both of my kids knew their colors by the time they were 2. Good Luck!
I have no idea when my children learned their colors. My son probably learned them before he could talk. He didn't talk much before he was four and yet he is now advanced in reading, vocabulary, and math now. I don't remember when my daughter learned them but she knows them although I don't remember teaching her them. My DS 4 knows a couple colors. My two year old is another non talker so I haven't a clue what he knows. I agree with those who say don't burn her out. Let her be a child. They learn so much when not being pressured.
Just an observation here but it sounds like you and your dh are very intelligent people. But your dd is 2 1/2 and she's not your or your dh, maybe her learning style is different and not as fast paced as yours and your dh is. Maybe you should let up and just let it come naturally to her. Because it will, the more it seems like a child is being pushed to do something it's natural in them to rebel in some way. Maybe that's what she's doing. I'm not being critical at all, because every family and child is different and unique. My oldest dd knew how to spell her first and last name, recognized all her letters and colors before she went to kindergarten. My other dd..she knew numbers and colors well before she was two and all the ABC's before she was 3. By the time she was one she could button all her own clothes. My ds, he knows some of his number and all of his colors he can actually write "HI" but has no idea what letters they are. I figure he'll pick it up when he's ready. If I push him to hard, he'll hate learning and not want to learn. I'd rather him want to learn than rebel against me.
Just a thought here....... both of my boys had a difficult time learning colors, they were in a pre-k class at the age of 3 for speech issues, and they were teaching them colors and such. Well, they couldn't pick them up to save their lives. So they taught them the colors in sign language, and they picked it up almost instantly. I guess it was a visual thing, I dunno. Just a thought.
I would say, continue to play the way you are. Showing her colors, identifying things, etc. It most likely is just a maturation thing, not a lack of intellegence (obvioulsy), or other deficit. I think it is perfectly natural at 2 1/2 not to "get" what colors are. There little brains are developing so fast at that age. If you can, just relax, don't even worry about trying to help her get it for now, continue to label things as you would if she knew them, and go about your day. I would not be the least bit suprised in 2 weeks, 6 months, or a year a little switch will flip and she will be a concept she knows.
My kids all learned them fairly young. BUT...I didn't "teach" them. I read to them, read to them, read to them. Talked with them about things that were those colors, etc. We played I Spy...a lot...still do! My youngest learned them from my older kids...again, because they would read to her all the time, when I couldn't or whatever. Find some books that reinforce colors. (My Many Colored Days - Dr. Suess, think is one of my favorites. Eric Carle books are good too b/c they are bright and colorful and you could add the color words where they done exist). A note, too, on colorblindness. My nephew is colorblind. Cannot see red or green. Well, actually, cannot differentiate red, but he sees a gradient gray for red. He cannot see green AT ALL. My sister discovered this when going over a shape book where the only thing on the page was a green circle. There was NOTHING on the page - from what my nephew can see. He sees white or blank when there is something green because his brain cannot process it at all. I would say it's a bit early to say that's your daughter's issue, but if it continues or persists beyond 4, I'd have it checked out. It is RARER in girls BUT it does happen.
I agree with the other posters but if you are wanting to work on this, make it fun! Play games like candy land or make your own. We made a color game using a file folder and pasted many circles each a different color on it. We then laminated it and laminated circles that he could match up. After he mastered the matching, we had him find items (toy cars, plastic bears, etc) and place those inside the circles as they were all the same color. Then we moved to I Spy, etc. My philosophy is that learning should be fun!
I haven't read through everyone's posts. Have you tried playing candyland? my kids love it and the boys have played since they were both 2-3. They always need help at first, of course, but as time goes by they get it, it clicks and they are having fun!
My 2 1/2 year old is basically the same way. She knows her numbers 1-10 all her letters and can recognize them. Knows many shapes and animals and such. But colors for whatever reason are harder. When we play with the sidewalk chalk I draw yellow suns for her, green grass etc, when she's coloring I name the crayons I hand her. She either just calls them colors, or becomes fixated on one color name and every color is 'green' or 'yellow'. I figure it's just something that takes a little longer to click so to speak. I'm just always amazed at what she has picked up so far by only 2 1/2! And she learned what I've taught her so far through play, songs, and books, so don't think I'm sitting down drilling my two year old either
It may be that young children may be focused on the shape of the crayon or whatever you are using for your example and not the color. They may not know what you mean when you say color so they are focusing on something different. My guess is once children who have this difficulty make the connection they learn their colors very quickly.
There are some interesting theoretical studies about how humans learn language by object recognition and classification. E.g., If you show an orange crayon, point to it and say "orange!" and then do the same with an orange stuffed animal , then an orange spoon, etc., etc. (all close to the same shade, of course), most language learners will pick up pretty quickly on what "orange" means by figuring out what those three things have in common. It's funny when kids are learning, "okay, so dog is the thing with four legs, a tail, fur..." and then they see a deer or something and holler with excitment, "dog!" They need a new level of classification to figure out what makes this new animal not a dog.
My kids were all 1 1/2 or 2. I didn't ever sit down to teach them colors...they just learned them through being read to and every day conversations.
Instead of asking, "What color is this...," or instead of saying, "This is...", just tell her the color. Be patient it will come to her. I used free paint color samples from Home Depot to teach my ds. Then I put the color samples up against things in our house that were the same color. He thought it was a game. He picked up the color samples and searched for matching colors through out the house.
Your post reminds me so much of how I felt when my oldest was about 2 1/2. I remember realizing that he didn't know his colors and that he "should." And I remember trying to teach him his colors, by pointing to things and saying, "What color is that?" That didn't work, so I moved on to naming the color of everything -- "Look at the blue sky!" or "That fire engine is red!" Then, I went back to asking him what colors things were. He didn't know, even after months of working on it, and I was so frustrated. I thought he was being lazy or manipulative or something, so I bought Skittles and M&M's on numerous ocassions and wouldn't let him eat them unless he got the color right. Or at least that was my plan, but he would NEVER get the colors right. And I was still so frustrated. I must have eventually given up, because I remember thinking it was really, really strange when he literally learned his colors overnight -- even though I hadn't been naming the color of everything we saw, asking him what color things were, bribing him with candy, etc. It didn't dawn on me until much later that he just didn't get. He either didn't understand what I was asking or didn't understand what a color was, or he didn't have an interest. He wasn't being defiant or not listening. It just wasn't one of his many priorities at that point in his life. There were much more important things to learn, like how to extract a worm from the dirt or escape from the gated deck to eat the strawberries. With my younger two kids, I took a really 'they'll learn it on their own eventually' approach. Our daughter knew all of her colors by her 2nd birthday, and I think the only reason she learned that early is because she was INTERESTED. She's always loved coloring and painting and art in general. Our youngest, another boy, just turned 3 and I hate to admit that I'm not even sure what colors he knows! I haven't ever 'quizzed' him on colors. I know he has color preferences ("I want the blue popcicle," while pointing at the blue one), but I'm not sure he'd understand if I asked him, "What color is the flower?" I think the most important thing at your daughter's age is having fun while you learn. If you are having fun, and she is having fun, by all means keep teaching her. If she doesn't show much of an interest and doesn't seem to care about colors right now, rest assured she will pick them up really quickly, when she's ready.
I think the standard is 3 colors by age 3. If she is 2.5 then she still has time. Just provide lots of models like using the word red to describe red 100 times in a week. Make red food, have red drinks, play with red toys, color with a red crayon, etc.
