Show four

What it looks like when your child can do it

• — Your child counts the four wheels on a toy car and says four, then points to the mark 4.
• — Shown four buttons in a square, your child says four, or two and two.
• — When four spoons get pushed into a pile, your child says it is still four.

How to teach it at the kitchen table

1. 01

   Build four from three and one more

   Put three blocks down, add one, and say, three and one more makes four. That is how the book names it.

2. 02

   Find four around the house

   A sheet of paper has four corners. A toy car usually has four wheels. Most chairs have four legs, though some do not, and counting to find out is the fun of it. Touch each one and count.

3. 03

   See four as two pairs

   Put a pair of socks down and a second pair beside it. Two and two is four. Now set four buttons in a square, one at each corner, and look for the two pairs inside it.

4. 04

   Push it into a pile

   Count four spoons in a line, then push them together and count again. It is still four. Four is how many, not how they sit.

5. 05

   Match it to the mark 4

   Write the mark 4. Point from the four wheels of a toy car to the mark and back. The book does the same: when you see 4, think of the wheels on a car.

You will need: A sheet of paper and a pencil for the mark 4 · A toy car, if you have one · Buttons, socks or spoons (buttons are small enough to choke on, so stay at the table)

Try it together

1. Try 1

   Hand your child a sheet of paper and ask how many corners it has.

   Listen for  Four. Watch that each corner gets one touch and one number. Turning the paper as they go can cause a corner to be counted twice, so keep it flat.

2. Try 2

   Put four buttons in a square, one at each corner. Show it for two seconds, then cover it with your hand.

   Listen for  Four. Some children say two and two. That is a good answer too, and it means they saw the pairs.

3. Try 3

   Count four spoons in a line together, then push them into a pile. Ask how many now.

   Listen for  Four. Recounting from one is fine. A new number means the pile idea needs more time.

4. Try 4

   Put two pairs of socks on the bed. Ask how many socks there are in all.

   Listen for  Four. Two and two.

Watch for

• — Losing track once things are in a pile. Let your child slide each counted thing to one side as it is touched.

If it is not there yet

• — Back up to three. Build three as two and one more until your child says three before counting.
• — Count four large things in a row, like four shoes by the door, before moving to small things that roll.

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

• Zig and Zag Count to Twenty · Lesson 6

  Five

  Needs it because five is named as four and one more. The approved sample spread is this lesson.