Count a set of objects

What it looks like when your child can do it

• — Your child slides each button from one side of the table to the other as they count it, so nothing gets counted twice.
• — For a big pile, your child makes groups of ten, then counts the tens and the leftovers.
• — Your child writes a guess first, then counts, and says how far off the guess was.

How to teach it at the kitchen table

1. 01

   Move each thing as you count it

   Push every counted item to a new spot, or drop it in a bowl. The counted pile and the uncounted pile stay apart, so nothing gets counted twice or missed.

2. 02

   One number for one thing

   Say one number each time one item moves. If your child's words race ahead of their hands, slow both down and count together out loud.

3. 03

   Group big piles into tens

   Past about twenty, make little piles of ten. Count the piles by tens, then add the leftovers one at a time. Four piles of ten and 3 extra is 43.

4. 04

   Guess first, then count

   Look at the pile for a moment and write a guess. Then count. The gap between the guess and the real number is the point, so praise the counting, not a close guess.

You will need: A bowl · Dry beans, buttons, crayons or cereal · Paper and a pencil

Try it together

1. Try 1

   Tip out a handful of dry beans or buttons, somewhere between 15 and 30, and ask your child to count them.

   Listen for  Whatever the real number is, so count them yourself first. Watch that each one moves as it is counted.

2. Try 2

   Count out 43 pieces of dry cereal, mix them into a pile, and ask your child to count them in tens.

   Listen for  4 groups of ten and 3 left over, which is 43. Listen for 10, 20, 30, 40, then 41, 42, 43.

3. Try 3

   Hold up a bunch of grapes for a moment, then set it down. Ask for a guess at how many grapes, then count them together.

   Listen for  Any guess is fine. Listen for your child saying how far off it was, and whether it was too high or too low.

4. Try 4

   After your child counts 12 items, jumble them into a new pile and ask how many there are now.

   Listen for  12. A child who knows the number did not change when the pile moved has an important idea. Recounting to check is fine too.

Watch for

• — Skipping an item or counting one twice in a spread-out pile. Moving each item as it is counted fixes it.

If it is not there yet

• — Count smaller piles, under 15, dropping each item into a bowl, until every count comes out the same twice.
• — Count together out loud with your hand over your child's, one item and one number at a time.

A few days of this is normal, and it is time well spent. The lesson will still be there, and it will go faster.

Where this skill comes up

• How Scientists Actually Find Out · Lesson 6

  Guessing Is Not Measuring

  Needs it because the first task counts real items so the number, not the impression, goes on the line.