Letter Recognition

That's Great! Congratulations! Their knack for detail and memory are so great at this age they learn so much so fast.

Congrats on your smart cookie! Girls usually take to things earlier than boys do but I do not know what the "norm" is. I can say that my 21 month old daughter knew the letters (all uppercase and most lower case) at 20 months as well as about 9 or 10 colors and number up to 13. Keep doing what you are doing, it sounds like it's working.

This is probably in the early range of "normal", which is common for girls, which seem to be more advanced at this than boys. She's no genius, but still, this is a very positive sign, and good foundation for continued learning. Good for you : )

Hey there E.. My daughter will be two and a half in December and recognizes her letters, can write a few, knows the sounds they make (the short ones anyway) and thus can even sound out certain 3 letter words with fluctuating accuracy. She was born with a brain injury so i decided to stay home with her to do the activities necessary for her to develop new neuro-pathways. I feel very lucky that my daughter has developed completely normally. As part of Early intervention (and since I was a stay home mom) I was able to expose Lu to all kinds of different activities throughout the day and thus, she has really thrived. I would suggest activities to her and she would choose what she wanted to do... she just happened to be a letters and numbers girl. However, I do think that, in the age of "the super baby" we have to be careful about pushing our children too hard too soon (not that you are doing that!) so I take great care in following her lead in activities. Currently, all she wants to play is tea party, picnic and cook in her kitchen so we spend much of the day playing as she develops her imagination and, sometimes, her autonomy with the activities she has chosen. They have to learn it all and, in my opinion, they learn what they enjoy and what they are exposed to first and pick up the rest when they start going to school.

Hi E.-
You've gotten some great responses! I want to add one that became very clear to me as my child grew older.
I think it's important not to set a 'standard' in your expectations about you child's accoplishments. (Not that I think you are, it's just my two cents.)
It's awesome to see a little kid do something so amazing! I do think that making a HUGE deal out of it can set them up for thinking that they need to be 'awesome' at everything, which is next to impossible.
I think kids should be praised for taking on a challenge and trying to learn something as much as if they ace it. There's not much as sad as watching a child not want to try something new because they think they won't be good at it.
Enjoy your little girl! Wait 'till she starts correcting your spelling and grammar!!!

They can be 5 and still learning letters and sounds, which means your little darling is doing great.
Start with letter/sound combinations and then you take it to simple words.
good luck

Hi E.,

26 months is quite young to recognize so many letters. Usually around age 3 children can recognize and write most of the letters. All childen learn at a different rate. I say, keep encouraging her, but don't push.

Hi E.,
Many 2 year olds do recognize the letters of the alphabet, or at least some of them, and some kids go into kindergarten not recognizing every letter yet. Kids pick this up from books you read to them, shows like Sesame Street. It's great that she recognizes the letters (remember, there are actually 52 letters, they tend to recognize uppercase before lowercase, but that doesn't actually help in reading because reading is primarily about lowercase). However, it does not mean that a child is gifted nor does it mean that she should be overwhelmed with any sort of academic work, curriculum, etc., just let her continue to enjoy being a smart toddler :)

My son started recognizing letters around that age and knew all their sounds before he was 3. Now he is 5 and reads at a 4th-5th-grade level and is especially talented with languages! We never pressured him, but do read a lot. His sister is 3-1/2 and recognizes most of the letters and knows the sound of a few. Some kids pick up early on things and a few of them turn out to be gifted, like our son. We've done our best at encouraging and providing opportunities to learn as much as they can to all of our children and that is what you should do, too!
I wouldn't go overboard and never pressure her, but continue whatever it is that you are doing, especially reading. Enjoy whatever her talents turn out to be!