Caitlyn from @theitsybitsy.classroom gave us some amazing information about counting and numbers during out #letsgetreadyforkinder segment. Read below for her tips on how to prepare your furture kindergartener!

Counting

Teachers would like students to have a decent foundation of how to count when entering Kindergarten. Maybe they miss some numbers, maybe they only make it to five, maybe they only make it to ten, but the concept of counting is a good way to start.

Ways to practice:

• count things you see
• count snacks, count toys, count flowers outside, etc.
• count starting at different numbers, for example start at 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 or start at 3, 4, 5 ,6

Even if your child is not actually counting, model how to count. Children are always listening and absorbing information.

Eventually, your child will work on counting all the way to 100 or even to 120 during Kindergarten.

Counting Groups of Objects

An important skill when learning how to count, is being able to count objects in a group.

What does this mean? It means counting five objects and understanding the last number they said, five, is the number of objects in the group.

During kindergarten, children will use the skill of counting objects in a group to work on adding and subtracting.

Ways to practice:

• count snacks, count toys etc.
• elaborate that the last number they said is how many there are of that object

Number Identification

The first step when it comes to being able to identify numbers, is being able to determine a letter from a number.

After children are able to distinguish a number from a letter, it is then time to move on to identifying numbers 0-10.

Ways to practice:

• point out things that are letters and numbers Ex. cereal boxes, signs, the clock, license plates, etc.
• point out specific numbers 0-10 that you see

Most children can identify numbers 0-10 when they are in order, but they don’t always know that the symbol they are pointing to is that number.

Helpful Tip: Scramble up the numbers and make sure they know what the numbers are when they are out of order.

Activities & Resources

Click on the pictures to find out more about the number activities!

Please supervise your child while they are completing learning activities.

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