At What Age to Worry

by Barbara
(Kleinmond, South Africa)

Hi. I have two boys.

8.5 and 2.5 (I am 39). My eldest went to playschool all the way through to 1/2 of grade 1. He was 6.5 when we moved and I started homeschooling.

With him I was just an "active observer" as the school was very good at teaching him - although I do remember him being a "quiet baby".

However my 2.5 year old I have from day one and he hasn't been to any day care or such and where we live there are not many babies his age.

He likes to watch spiderman and winnie the pooh and we let him play with an iPad which he seems quite good at operating.

Regarding his speech, I believe he has a vocabulary of about 50 words, not clearly articulated, but I can just about understand (he is good at following instructions but not keen in saying words "properly").

Now, since I don't have "experience" with what is normal, How do I go about helping him, because sometimes I have to try and guess what he's wanting frustrating for both of us!

E.g. fly - he says fi, fight - he says fi, fright - he says fi. And if you teach him to sign, won't that delay speech anymore?

Thanks for feedback.