How to teach my child to count

How to teach my child to count

Learn to count and know the numbers they are two different concepts. Children from their first year of life are already beginning to be familiar with the concept of numbers and almost without wanting to know how to tell how old they are with their fingers. We parents teach them to say and recognize numbers, but it is different when we try to teach our son to count.

Because it's different? Because children have the ability to recite the numbers in order, they learn it by heart, but when it comes to counting, they don't do it easily. If you have a child count a series of objects, you will see that they are counting them one by one. But inadvertently they may skip one, or that two of them count them together, or that an object has two numbers at the same time. That is where they still have a little way to learn to count.

How can I teach my child to count?

We must be clear about the concept of developing with logic and reasoning what it would be like to learn to count. For many experts, one-to-one correspondence would have to be developed, which would be to give an object a number, as if it were a name.

You can start by doing simple games that enter into everyday life, like listing the number of glasses needed to set the table, counting the number of shoes, the parts of her body, and even counting treats. The point is that they begin to show interest in numbers and mathematics.

In this way it would develop the partition, where you would name the objects with 'counted' and 'not counted' and then you would have to do a naming of the objects with numbers. This type of exercise must be done as a game and can begin to be implemented after 5 or 6 years, although it will depend on the child's ability.

How to teach my child to count

Another type of activity that can be applied is with the Montessori method, where you work on how to classify objects with an order or pairing with sensory materials. If the idea is to make the child learn to count, it is better to do it through activities to help you sort and order, instead of constantly teaching written numbers.

Activities or games for the child to learn to count

The best examples for children to learn to count is through games or with situations that are presented with everyday objects. Those with which you are familiar can be used to compare them with quantities or with other groups that have the same number of objects.

Another way to teach them is through music, with songs, rhymes, poems, drawings or funny videos that the platforms offer us. Through fun, the way of learning the succession of numbers can be greatly enhanced. With the melodies They will learn to recognize a number and to recognize the number sequence.

How to teach my child to count

Shapes and colors are good examples for you too learn in a visual way. Children are much better at using tonalities so they will be able to remember much better using relationships.


There are many games available to buy and that they can learn by playing. In a homemade way you can use small balls so that they are counting and adding to each other. Another way to have fun is by assigning a number to a person, toy or stuffed animal. So for each one of them we will assign 1 for Pablo, 2 for Dad, 3 for grandfather, etc.

Although it may not seem like it, the ability to count is important and children can develop this ability from a very young age. In this way they have a greater advantage to naturally learn what the quantity is and the concept of "more" and "less" and thus to know that three means 'three things'.


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