Number Sense- How Children Make Sense of Numbers

The ability to count just seems natural right? I don’t need to teach my child that. They can already count to ten. I wish it was that easy! My daughter is two years old and can count to ten no problem, so she is super smart right?  She can say the number’s, but does she know what they mean? Can she count something? Not exactly. More often than not families think that because their child can repeat number’s they can count but honestly most of the time that isn’t the case. Teachers call this one to one correspondence. 

​Challenge! Here is how you see whether or not they already understand numbers. Ask them to count something. Have them point to what they are counting or pick each item up and move them. Ask them to count five. If they can point, one two three four five and each item gets pointed to only once then they understand what numbers actually mean. If they point to one item more than once or if they randomly point and say numbers, which is common at three and four years old, they need to work on this skill still. 

Remember, not having mastered this skill yet is not the end of the world. It just means you need to work on it. You can check out activities and supplies at www.digitalpreschool.com for more ways to work on One to One Correspondence.