Those darn numbers and letters

Sidewalk chalk fun!

A common fascination with Spectrum kiddos is letters and numbers. Matthew definately has this obessession. I call it an obsession seriously, because that is all he wants to do and play with to the point of not always being able to stop it on his own. Its a very touchy thing and is the cause for some meltdowns - and only some of those meltdowns are from Matthew!

We have electric tape over all the digital clocks in our downstairs except for the microwave. When Matthew hears it start up he comes running so he can watch the numbers. He stands in front of it while "stimming" and shouting out occasional numbers and when it finally gets to zero he either cries or shouts BLASTOFF! When riding in the car, either we listen to the CD and he keeps track of the song numbers (even with the numbers covered up) on his fingers or he watches the clock and shouts "There it is!" whenever the minutes change.

Today we left a grocery store and Matthew saw a lottery machine with the numbers. He watched the digital numbers scan and suddenly shouted "80!!" VERY loudly. Some of the employees chuckled and I heard one of them say "What was that about?" I just wanted to sigh. I think I actually did sigh.

I could go on and on.

He is beginning to read and continually amazes me with all that he knows. Letters aren't so bad for me to deal with. Letters make words, words make sentences, etc. Its a gradual, obvious progression of what I can teach him. Numbers are a little more difficult. He loves to count and I've heard him count to 1000. So, we're trying to work on patterns, sorting, etc. Anything to add something "new".

So far, this is the most challenging things for me to deal with. Numbers and letters are EVERYWHERE! I'd like to give my 2 cents to the wise guy who came up with the idea of putting them on every piece of playground equipment there is.

But, we just keep plugging away at it, trying to help him focus on the music not the numbers, the story, not just the letters and words. And, we'll keep trying to get him interested in cars, trucks or trains like most 3 year old boys are. My dream is to see him play with cars with a friend. Not alongside a friend, but WITH a friend.

As a wise person once told me, he's only 3. The things we are doing now will help him cope later. That is my sincere prayer!