It's a mistake that I have made quite a few times already-our family will be in a situation where I will believe Pumpkin is too young to understand something or wouldn't be able to figure something out, only to have her completely shock me by accomplishing the task with no problem at all! I can sit here and name about a dozen examples of times that Pumpkin has exceeded all expectations of what a kid her age can do. Just to name a few:
We have been frequenting storytime since Pumpkin was 8 months old. After storytime, we go to the children's section of the library to play with the toys, along with one of the other attendees and her mom. When my daughter sees them leaving the story room, she will point at them, look at me and yell for my attention. After I gather our things-a good few minutes after our post-storytime playmates have left-I follow Pumpkin out the door, and low and behold she knows exactly which way we need to go. She was around 12 or 13 months old at the time.
This past December, my family went to Disney World. We planned the trip mostly for my 8 year old step daughter and we expected Pumpkin to, at the very best, just enjoy being outside all day-there is NO WAY a 14 month old could possibly "get" what disney world is. My husband and I agree, she enjoyed herself the most out of anyone we went with. In downtown disney she was dancing pretty much all evening. It was a blast for her. In magic kingdom we stopped for a street show on Main Street USA where Mickey and friends were performing and Pumpkin's face lit up so brightly. She had a grin from ear to ear and kept pointing to her favorite characters. Then she would look at me like if she couldn't believe her eyes. This show was THE highlight of my trip. When we met the princesses and Mickey Mouse at the meet and greets, she was absolutely infatuated by them-as long as she was allowed to keep what she deemed was a safe distance. She didn't really care to go up to anyone-just stare. It truly was amazing. All that from a trip where we didn't think she would have a clue.
Now Pumpkin is 15 months old, and I talk to her all day, thanks to baby sign language. I am amazed by just how much she has to say. Of course she talks on one word sentences, but it is enough for talking to her to be a fun and easy experience. Some people may think I'm crazy for reading Pumpkin short stories instead of exclusively reading picture books geared toward babies and toddlers, but one of Pumpkin's favorite anthologies is Disney's 5 Minute Snuggle Stories. If she sees that book, it's story time! Anyhow, this morning after story time, she still wanted to look through the book (how about that attention span!) and I pointed out a picture of a dog and signed dog. This evening, she wanted to look through the book again. She saw a duck on a page and started signing bird! We had never before looked through books with intent of labeling pictures, so she grasped this concept in less than a day!
Last week I began working with my daughter on using a shape sorter. I initially had to line the shapes up with the correct holes so she just had to push them in. This week I can point to the correct hole and she will put the shape in properly as long as she only has to twist the shape minimally.
What's My Point?
Like many parents, I can go on and on talking about my kid. However, this article isn't an excuse to brag, it's to illustrate just how capable such small humans are! My daughter has really opened my eyes to just how detrimental it can be to underestimate a toddler. In fact, I think underestimating toddlers is one of the biggest disservices we can to them! I use the term disservice because if I had continued to underestimate Pumpkin, she would be deprived of so many things that she enjoys! I think about how boring it would be to be so curious, and stuck in a boring routine that never challenges her. If the first 6 years are truly the time of the most growth (including mental and cognitive growth), then its my job as her parent to take advantage of this time-to give her the tools and freedoms she needs (albeit in a safe, supervised environment) to grow and explore all things she is curious about!
Lessons Learned and Changes Made
When I began my mission to create a toddler homeschool for Pumpkin, I thought I was doing an experiment for myself-my husband and I are considering actually homeschooling her when she is school aged and I truly wanted to see if this is even a possibility. Can I make enough time in my day? Am I really going to stay motivated to socialize her properly? While I truly am discovering a lot about how much I can accomplish and make time for, however, Pumpkin is gaining so much more from our time together than I ever would have imagined. it is exciting as we move forward to know that she is gaining so much from all that we do together-that the time, effort and money I'm investing is for something bigger than a mere experiential. Even if we do not homeschool when she is school aged, I am giving her a wonderful gift, and we are making so many memories together!
So I move forward in toddler homeschool with a new goal-I am NOT going to underestimate Pumpkin anymore. I know her well and no matter what it is, I am going to give her the chance to participate! I'm going to stop looking at toddler homeschool as an experiment for the future, and focus instead on making memories and teaching my toddler.
