Don't Rush!

I have noticed a lot of questions coming up from parents are all talking about the same thing. How do I get my child to count?

Well, my advice is don’t rush!

It is important that children do not rush through the numbers because this stops them from learning number sense. It is vital that all children have number sense in order to help with progress as they go throughout primary school.

Therefore, my advice is take is one day at a time, one number at a time.

Each day, week or fortnight, whatever is best for your children. Focus on one number. Break this number down, use it in different activities.

For example, lets look at the number 4:

-Can you do 4 star jumps?

-Can you make me 4 cakes with the playdoh?

-Can you stir the porridge four times?

-2+2=4 3+1=4 1+3=4 4+0=4 Therefore, this is showing children that the number can be broken down in different ways.

-Can you write the number 4?

-Do you know anyone that is 4 years old?

-What is one more than 4?

-What is one less than 4?

-Point out when it is 4 o clock.

-Can you find me 4 sticks? Can you find 1 long stick and three short sticks? How many have you got altogether?

-Can you split the pizza into 4? How many people can you share it between?

-Point (one to one correspondence) counting to 4.

It is key, that you do not go onto the next number until the child is secure with the number sense. Sometimes we rush children through counting because wen want to tell everyone they can count to 100 but this will not help them in the long run.

Any questions on ‘Don’t rush’ just ask