We teach counting with children 3-4 years old. Counting games

03.09.202427.05.2017

Teaching numbers and counting is a very important stage in preschool education. How to teach a child to count, how to make math classes arouse his interest - parents of young children are often concerned with these questions.

In fact, there is no particular difficulty in teaching children the basics of mathematics. You just need to take into account the key features of the thinking of a child in the preschool period of life, which will help build learning correctly and make it effective.

Features of preschool perception of the category of counting in young children

Age. At the age of two or three years, children still have very immature thinking, the operations of analysis and generalization are inaccessible to them, so even if you teach a child to count to ten, he will only mechanically repeat “1, 2, 3, 4, 5”, not representing the mechanism of calculus. When asked how many objects are in front of him (cubes, balls), he is unlikely to be able to answer meaningfully, since he does not yet operate with the category of quantity.

“Your” vision. Three-year-old children perceive the counting operation very literally, believing that the operations of addition (adding) and subtraction (subtracting) are valid now, at this particular moment in time, and only with those objects that he sees in front of him. Children think that if objects are moved away from each other, then there will be more of them, and if they are brought closer to each other, then there will be fewer of them.

A child who has reached the age of three, if asked to add three to four cubes, will give the correct answer “7” only after counting all the cubes in order. But older children will make the calculation in a different way, adding one to four cubes (4+1+1+1) each time analyzing the result until they get the correct number - “7”.

Therefore, when thinking about how to teach a child to count, you need to remember these features of perception of children of primary preschool age.

It is best to start teaching children counting and numbers at the age of three or four years, and you need to focus on the individual characteristics of a particular child, and not on the examples of other mothers who claim that they know when and how they can teach their child numbers.

Let's start classes

Preparatory stage, approximate age of children – 2-3 years

Mastering the categories “big - small”, “more - less”, “one - many”. Very simple, but at the same time necessary concepts that a child of the above age should operate with. This will make his subsequent learning of numbers and counting more effective.

Examples of tasks

We study the category “big - small”. Select several toys of different heights (matryoshka dolls, pyramids, cubes) and invite your child to arrange them by size (height) from smallest to largest.
You can complicate the task as follows: take identical children's construction set cubes and make two towers of different heights from them. Invite your child to level their height on their own.

We master the category “more - less”. Place in front of the child several apples, one toy, two or three identical cubes, three or four cookies. Analyze together what is less, more, and what is the same. What are more cubes or apples, toys or cookies? What's the same? While completing this activity, reinforce your children's counting skills from 1 to 5.

During classes, try to give examples using what the child sees in front of him - environmental and everyday objects. Then teaching him mathematics and counting will be of keen interest to him in the future.

Let's start training. Counting from one to ten. Children's age – 3-4 years

For these classes you will need the following teaching materials:

Important point

Before starting training, you need to understand how many cubes a child can identify immediately, without resorting to counting them with his finger. As a rule, at three or four years old children can immediately identify 2-3 objects, in very rare cases - 4. There are also those who can only identify one cube. Therefore, place a box of cubes in front of your child and, one by one (starting from the lowest value), invite him to determine their number without counting. So you say, “How many cubes? Speak right away, don’t count!” If the child can identify only one cube without counting, the next lesson needs to be done.

First lesson. Learning numbers 1 and 2

Step 1. Place a box with a single cube inside on the table, place cards with numbers 1 and 2 next to it. Ask your child a question, and when he says “one,” show him the card with number 1. Place it next to the box

Step 2. Place another cube in the box and give your child the task of counting the cubes. If he answered that there are two cubes, put a card with the number 2 on the table, after removing the card with the number 1. Let the child do this himself - this way, he will have a clear understanding of the correspondence between the number and the number of cubes in the box.

We study the composition of the number, consolidating and practicing the task several times. Very soon the young student will be able to remember what two cubes look like together and will begin to correctly name their number without resorting to counting with his finger. At the same time, the numbers 1 and 2 will cease to be an abstract concept for him when he correlates them with the number of cubes in the box.

Let's continue the lesson. Ants and anthill

Adding game elements to the activity. Before it starts, we tell the child that our box is an ant house, and the cubes are small ants, its inhabitants, who live in their burrows, that is, on the cells of the box. To make it more convincing, you can stick a small image of an ant on one of the faces of the cube.

Step 1. We put one cube on the first cell in the box (preferably, it should be to the left of the child), and tell him: “one ant is already in his hole. And if his friend wants to come and visit him now, how many ants will there be in the hole then?” If you see that it is difficult for a child to answer correctly right away, then place one cube next to the box. When the baby figures it out and says “2,” you can allow him to place the second cube next to the first, making sure that they are within the boundaries of their “holes,” that is, cells.

Step 2. Now we ask the following question: “How many ants will remain in the house if one leaves?” Most likely, the child will already answer this question without difficulty - alone. Ask him to support this answer with a card with the corresponding number. We move on, adding one cube at a time to the already known number, consistently and slowly. In the future, we study numbers, gradually bringing the required number of cubes to 10.

Demonstrate the inverse operation of addition - subtraction. This will help your child quickly and easily learn to count to 10, as well as. Very soon he will be able to solve elementary examples of these mathematical operations. Remember to reinforce the number of cubes with visual imagery of numbers by showing the corresponding number cards during the task.

The purpose of this technique

The following results must be achieved: the child must not simply determine the quantity by listing the objects lying in front of him, but analyze the composition of the number. Then he will easily solve the simplest mathematical examples, understanding that the number 5 will be obtained if 2+3 or 4+1.

The ability to analyze numbers will be very useful in the future, when children begin to master division operations and encounter the concept of “multiplicities” of numbers. Also, these skills will be extremely useful to them when they start.

Learning and remembering numbers

Many parents are interested in how best to teach their children numbers. The answer to this question is very simple. There is no point in forcing children to memorize numbers mechanically. When operating with them, he must have a good understanding of their numerical content - that is, understand what is behind the number “2” and how many objects there are. Therefore, in order to teach a child numbers, it is necessary to constantly emphasize the inextricable connection between a number and a number - its quantitative indicator. This is perfectly demonstrated by the above technique.

All sorts of visual aids - lotto and cards - will help a preschool child remember images of numbers well. It’s even better if you and your child independently develop a series of pictures demonstrating what the numbers look like. Use any analogies and associations to make the image with the number as memorable as possible. Such pictures will help the baby remember what the numbers look like, and.

Teaching your child math and counting should be easy, without the use of force or pressure. Then any child of preschool age will receive joy from knowing and studying the world.

Teacher, child development center specialist
Druzhinina Elena

Educational cartoon from Robert Sahakayants, “Learning to count”:

Games for learning counting with younger preschoolers

Game "Treat the dolls."

Goals: develop matching skills; teach counting.

3 dolls (soft toys), candies (dummies cut out of paper).

Description: play with dolls with your child. Build the game in such a way that one of the dolls invites the other two to visit. Lay out two candies and invite the child to treat them to all the dolls. One of the dolls is left without candy. “How did this happen? Let's count how many dolls we have: one, two, three. Three dolls, but how many candies? Just two? Well, of course, two is less than three.” Lay out two more candies and be surprised that there is now one extra left. Count the dolls and candies again, explain that four is more than three. Select the required number of candies and ask the child to count everything again.

Game "Building a house".

Goals: consolidate knowledge of color; teach counting.

: cubes (Lego constructor),

Description: invite the child to build a multi-story house. Discuss in advance how many floors it will have. During the game, give the child tasks: “Bring 2 red cubes for the first floor. Now three blue ones are for the third floor.” After finishing the work, offer to count how many floors have been built. After destroying a structure, you can calculate how many cubes were needed to build it.

Game "Trailers".

Target: consolidate knowledge of numbers.

Game material and visual aids: cards with numbers from 1 to 10.

Description: draw a steam locomotive and invite the child to attach trailers to it, but with one condition: all the trailers must go in order, starting with the first one. Help the child by asking him leading questions: “And after the number 3, what is the number? Where is our trailer number 4?” After the train is ready, send it on a journey: let the child imitate the whistle of a steam locomotive, the sound of wheels. Discreetly remove one of the cards. Draw the child’s attention to the fact that one trailer is lost somewhere. Determine which car with which number is missing.

Game "Geometric Lotto".

Goals: help consolidate previously acquired knowledge on the topics “Color”, “Shape”; develop attention.

Game material and visual aids: game "Loto" (homemade cards).

Description: if there is no game “Loto”, you can make cards for it yourself; to do this, draw small rectangles cut out of cardboard in half, and draw some geometric figure on each half. Explain to the child the rules of the game: each player is dealt an equal number of cards. The teacher makes a move, the child looks among his cards for the one on one of the halves of which there is a figure that repeats one of the figures on the card laid out by the teacher, etc. When laying out the cards, be sure to name the resulting figure. To complicate the task, you can ask to lay out figures of only one color or repeat only the color, laying out different figures.

Game "Remember and Count".

Goals: develop memory, observation, attention; teach counting.

Description: ask the child questions, to answer which you need to remember the number of certain objects, for example: how many rooms are in our apartment; how many times a day do you brush your teeth; how many trees grow in our yard, etc. Change roles: the child asks questions, the teacher answers.

Game “What is more?”

Target: develop matching skills.

Game material and visual aids: toy dishes (4 plates, 3 spoons).

Description: the Sveta doll invited guests. Five toys came to her. We need to treat them. Invite your child to place a plate in front of each guest. But there are only four plates. Ask your child why one of the guests didn’t have enough plate? Lead to the answer form: “There are more guests than plates.” What needs to be done so that there is an equal number of plates and guests? Place the missing plate. “Well, now there are equal numbers of guests and plates.” Now you need to put a spoon in each plate. Two plates were left without spoons. Why? Ask your child questions, the answers to which should include the words “more”, “less”. “How many spoons do we have? What about the plates? So, spoons... than plates, and plates... than spoons.”

Very often, parents, when trying to give their child a first idea of mathematics, focus exclusively on ordinal counting or memorizing numbers. Naturally, both are useful activities, however, if you really want to teach your child to count, then you need to introduce him not to numbers, but quantities and not just memorize counting to ten with your child, but help him understand the spoken meanings and develop mathematical thinking. For a child, the words “Four apples” should not be an empty phrase; the child should clearly understand how many apples it is and understand that, for example, four is more than two.

Mathematics for kids. Basic principles

The math games that I want to talk about in this article are best suited for children 2-4 years old (and some even earlier). The main goal of these games is to teach the child to visually recognize a number, to understand which is larger, which is smaller, which are the same, which quantity corresponds to each number, and what will happen if you add one more to three apples. I would like to note that these are games, not lessons. Children at this age will not like it too much if you constantly torture them with questions like “Show me the number 3” “Tell me how many sticks are there?” They need to be interested by unobtrusively adding math problems to everyday story games. I notice the highest interest in my daughter when her favorite toy personally tells her about her problem and asks her for help (I’m talking about the toy, of course).

Don't try to play with big numbers right away! It is enough to limit yourself to 4-5 games. Agree, it is much more attractive to help a child master various operations with numbers not exceeding the number 4, to develop mathematical thinking, than to simply learn to count to ten without knowing how to operate with each of these numbers. A child who has mastered operations with small numbers will then easily transfer his skills to large numbers.

So, math games for kids:

1. Ordinal counting in everyday life

First of all, draw your child’s attention to the fact that everything around us can be counted and introduce counting into your everyday life. Count the steps you climb, the cars in front of your house, the spoons before dinner, the pigs in a fairy tale, the stick candles on your sand cake, etc. So gradually the child will remember the sequence “one, two, three...” that you regularly pronounce and will slowly begin to relate it to the quantity he saw. This can be done as early as 1 year.

2. We study the concept of “The same amount”

Here are a few examples of our very first games with quantities (we played them at the age of about 2 years):

We place 2-3 toys at the table, inform the child that today is one of them’s birthday, so all the guests need to be fed. To begin with, we count together how many guests there are and with the words “So, there are only 3 guests, which means we will need 3 plates too,” we count out three plates with the baby. We place them for the guests, check that there is enough for everyone, which means that there are the same amount , how many toys. Similarly, you can give tasks for distributing spoons or chairs for toys.

Then, in the voice of the doll Masha, we say, “Can I please have 3 mushrooms?” We count out 3 mushrooms for Masha. Then we reason that the frog should be given the same amount so as not to offend him. We count out 3 mushrooms for him too. The concept of “ the same amount ».

In the game, you can use any available counting material (pine cones, buttons, counting sticks) or store-bought ones ( mushrooms, carrots, tomatoes).

It is not necessary to limit yourself only to the topic of tea drinking; mathematics can be added to any role-playing games. For example, put the same number of houses as there are animals, draw the same number of berries as there are hedgehogs in the picture, etc. The main thing is to harmoniously weave the task into the plot of the game, telling the story that the animals were left without housing, etc.

3. Compare “More-less”

Continuing the theme of the birthday toy, we lay out 2 mushrooms for one of the guests, and 4 for the other, together we think about who has more and who has less. First, we let the child try to determine by eye; if he makes a mistake, we recalculate together.

If the child is already good at comparing similar objects, you can offer him a more difficult task : put in front of him 2 different numbers of objects of different sizes, for example, buttons. For example, we put 3 large buttons and 5 small ones and ask which one has more. At first, kids usually get confused, pointing to large buttons. Your task is to explain that in this problem you are not comparing the size, but the number of buttons.

4. We study the concept of “Zero”

Even the smallest, one-year-old children can easily notice the fact that objects were and ended, and also grasp the moment when this happened. Therefore, having distributed candies, mushrooms and other joys to the toys, you spread your hands in bewilderment and say, “We have nothing left - zero candies.” The concept of “zero”, as a rule, is learned very easily by children.

5. Board games

Board games with cubes and chips are one of the best and most interesting ways to practice ordinal counting with your child. In addition, by constantly counting the same number of dots on a cube, the baby learns to recognize the number without counting, which is also very useful and will help in the future to easily operate numbers in the mind.

Taisiya and I started playing board games at 2.5 years old, at this age she could already understand that you need to play according to the rules, there is a sequence of moves, etc. I wrote in detail about all our first board games. Or you can download a walking game made especially for kids.

6. Countdown

Show your child not only forward counting, but also backward counting. So, for example, when putting rings on a pyramid, count as usual, and when disassembling the pyramid, count in the reverse order, thereby showing that the number of rings is decreasing. The same can be done by folding/unfolding something from a box, assembling/disassembling a path (turret) from cubes. This is a very useful game; it prepares the child well for the operation of subtraction.

7. Simple operations with objects: addition and subtraction

No, of course, I won’t write here that it’s time to solve the examples. We will simply unobtrusively, during the game, give the child an elementary and very simplified idea of such mathematical operations as addition and subtraction. Everything is just in a playful way! If a child finds it difficult or does not want to count, we simply pronounce the conclusion from the game situation ourselves. “There were three candies, they ate one, there were two left.” Here are some examples of games with which you can train your child’s mathematical thinking (let me remind you that so far we only use the smallest numbers in our games - within 4-5):

We take some toy and go with it into the forest in search of berries. For example, we played with a cat. Walking around the room, we found berries and pebbles of two colors under chairs and tables. Well, at the end they counted: “How many orange berries did the cat find? Three. How many yellow ones? Two. Now let's count how many berries he found. Five. It turns out that we collected 2 yellow berries and 3 orange ones, for a total of 5!”

The fixies gathered to repair the chair. They have 3 bolts. Let's calculate whether each fixie has enough bolts. How many more bolts do I need to find?

We transport the cubes in the car to the construction site (let's say 3 pieces). During transportation, one cube falls out. We count how many cubes are left.
We give the bear three candies, he eats two. We count how much he has left.
It is very interesting to play the so-called “hide and seek” game. For example, we draw four apples, then cover one with our palm, how many are left? Then we close two, etc.

8. Number composition

It is very useful to break down numbers into their components with your child (for example, 3 is 2+1, 1+1+1, 3+0). This will help the child with counting in the future. Game options:

Look, you and I have three apples, let's divide them between the bear and the bunny. We will give one apple to the bunny, and two to the bear. Try to redistribute the apples between the toys in different ways, showing different options for decomposing the number.

You can attach several clothespins to a hanger, place small toys on the edges and redistribute the clothespins between them, imagining that they are, for example, candies. It turned out to be an excellent replacement for the usual boring accounts. Another option: you can put the bagels on a ribbon and redistribute them in the same way, saying who got how much.

9. Get to know the numbers, establish the relationship between numbers and quantities

When the child has some idea of the quantities, you can begin to introduce numbers. Now, having calculated something, you not only name the number, but also show the corresponding figure. Here are some more options for math games:

We build towers from construction sets or cubes of the appropriate size;

We attach a suitable number of clothespins-hair ( YOU CAN DOWNLOAD HERE our head templates);

We select dominoes with the required number of dots (to diversify the game, you can invite your child to transport dominoes to numbered houses on a typewriter);

We lay out tracks from counting sticks and select suitable numbers - the length of the resulting tracks will help the child understand which number is larger;

We put the required number of matches into the numbered boxes;
We put the required number of cubes into the cars with numbers (the cars can be drawn on paper);
You can also use ready-made solutions, like this one games "Numbers" (Ozon,Labyrinth, My-shop)

or insert frame (Ozon, My-shop,Read)

10. Repeat numbers

To reinforce numbers, games will be useful in which the child needs to find identical numbers and combine them. For example, you can match houses to toys by numbers, place cars in numbered garages, etc.

Or play in the mathematical game "Train Engine" . To do this, draw a steam locomotive on paper or build a steam locomotive from a construction set, numbering the cars. Each passenger, as they approach, will call out the number of their carriage, and let the child seat everyone in their seats.

Books with poems about numbers like “Happy Counting” by Marshak (Ozon, Labyrinth, My-shop). We were lucky and the numbers in the book were exactly the size of our soft numbers, so we overlapped them as we read.

I also really like it “Merry Count” by N. Vladimirova (Ozon, Labyrinth, My-shop), I wrote about him before.

11. Sequence of numbers

In my opinion, before 3 years of age there is no need to focus the child’s attention on the order in which the numbers appear in a number series, so as not to confuse the child while he is forming his idea of quantities. Well, after three children may already be interested in the following mathematical games:

« Baba Yaga mixed up the numbers" The kid must put the mixed up numbers in order.
. In essence, this is the same game as the previous one, only more interesting, in my opinion, because by arranging the numbers, the baby can see a beautiful picture. Some examples of puzzles can be found DOWNLOAD HERE.

“Name the neighbors of the number.” Having added up the numbers by number, you can ask your child what kind of neighbors, for example, the number 4 has.
Connect the dots by numbers. The easiest number mazes, which are ideal as first ones, in my opinion, are presented in KUMON workbook “Learning to count from 1 to 30” (Ozon, Labyrinth, My-shop)

Well, in conclusion, I would like to cite a few more useful books that will help you teach your child to count.

Zemtsov “Numbers and counting”. Sticker books (Ozon, Labyrinth, My-shop)

The books contain simple tasks for counting and memorizing numbers. The tasks are quite varied; the presence of stickers in the books definitely increases the child’s interest in them. The manuals will be a wonderful help in mastering mathematics.

Felicity Brooks "Playing and Learning Numbers" (Ozon, Labyrinth, My-shop)

Magnetic book-toy “Counting” (Ozon, Labyrinth, My-shop)

Photobook “Learning colors and numbers” (Ozon, Labyrinth, My-shop)

In this book, the child is asked to look for different objects while counting them. An excellent book for practicing conscious counting and attention skills. We didn’t develop an interest in her right away, after about 2.5 years.

So, if you introduce simple mathematics into your everyday play situations with your child from an early age, then this science will be easy for your child. I wish you interesting and rich games!

Lesson 14.

Purpose of the lesson: Teach children to recognize numbers 1, 2 and 3. Solving constructive problems.

Exercise 1.

Purpose of the exercise: teach to recognize numbers.

The game “Find the Number” in this form: numbers are written on geometric figures: 1 2 3.

Editor's note: one is written on triangles (3 pieces), two on circles (3 pieces), three on squares (3 pieces). The shapes come in three different colors (for example, blue, green and red) and three sizes (large, medium, small).

The figures are placed in a box. The child must sort them “by numbers”.

Find all the ones!

The game can be designed with a plot: Monkey, Baby Elephant and Parrot share the figures. The monkey gets a one, the Parrot gets a two, the Elephant gets a three. (If you introduced your child only to the number 1 or only to the numbers 1 and 2, play with these numbers. Then introduce a new number and play the game, including recognizing it.)

The tasks proceed sequentially: first you need to select all 1, then among the remaining figures we ask the child to find all 2, then 3. At this stage, the child may notice that threes are written on all the remaining figures, so there is no need to specifically select them.

When the grouping is completed, we ask the child the question: “Here you have all the ones, but what else interesting can you say about this bunch of figures?” (These are all triangles.)

If the child notices this, we consider the next two groups, making a generalization: “These are all circles. These are all squares.”

We suggest that another child, if he was nearby, do the same exercise (having mixed everything first), but choose triplets first, etc.

It would be interesting if the second child took into account the results of the previous work and immediately selected all the squares, knowing that only they had threes, etc.

Exercise 2.

Purpose of the exercise: training in solving constructive problems.

Editor's note: to carry out exercises No. 2 and No. 3 you will need two sets of geometric shapes (one for you, the other for the child). Each set contains 2 circles, 10 squares and 11 triangles. All figures must be the same color, for example gray, and the same size. The triangle in this task is half of a square, i.e. it is rectangular and isosceles.

From these figures we lay out the “Machine”. (We lay it out in front of the child, accompanying this work with the words: square, square, circle...)

Exercise 3.

Purpose of the exercise: development of constructive activity. Training in quantitative design analysis.

Accompanying the plot with toys or drawings “Hedgehog” and “Bunny”, we complement the design of the “drawing”, pausing after each figure so that the child repeats our actions:

The hedgehog went to the store for groceries, and the bunny remained waiting for him in the house. Show me which direction the car is going. (The child shows the direction of movement with his finger.)

A Hedgehog rides through the forest past the fir trees:

Show me the tallest tree, the shortest one.
Arrived at the store:

I bought bread, milk, carrots, cabbage, apples and went back:
- Show me where he’s going now? Which way?

Show me the big house, the little house. Let's count the trees: first, second, third.

If the child cannot name the ordinal numbers himself, take the child by the hand and, pointing his finger at the Christmas trees, name the ordinal numbers, encouraging the child to repeat their names (we count in the direction from the big house, since the car is moving in that direction).

Exercise 4.

We end the lesson with a nursery rhyme about pancakes. We distribute "pancakes" to the hare and the hedgehog.

Some parents, when their baby is hardly even a year old, want to teach their child to count correctly and quickly. Others are not sure whether this should be done with a preschooler if they will teach it at school anyway.

Many experts say that this should be done only when children show interest in counting, and not try to force it. Typically, children show interest in counting early, but parents need to nourish it and motivate it to develop in this regard in the form of games and exciting examples.

From time to time interest may fade, but you can warm it up, offering to count together steps while walking, toys or buttons on clothes.

Today you will learn how to teach a child to count, in some cases it can be done quickly, in other cases it will take time.

What parents need to understand

Some parents simply don't know how to start doing this.

Now there are many specialized books on how to teach a child to count. Psychologists claim that if you decide to start training, then you should follow these recommendations:

Teaching materials for counting

It is quite difficult to teach at the age of 3-5 years. For training at the initial stage You can use different visual materials, in particular:

pictures;
numbers on a magnet;
cubes and so on.

When learning moves to addition and subtraction, then the following are used as visual materials:

fingers - invite the children to count the number of fingers on their hand, then bend them and ask how many are left;
sticks - by analogy with fingers;
ruler - show the numbers and divisions on the ruler, count them off if you want to teach your child addition.

However, many psychologists do not encourage the use of such devices to teach children to count, and believe that this provokes laziness and does not train thinking and memory. A number of experts suggest teaching children to count exclusively orally.

Examples for the little ones

Learning to count can begin as early as six months of age.. Naturally, we are not talking about allowing a child who cannot walk or talk to count objects, but this will allow parents to create a basis for future learning. A good example in this case is light rhymes where there is a count, for example, such as “1, 2, 3, 4, 5, the bunny went out for a walk.”

Already at the age of one, the examples will be more complex. You can take the cubes and tell your child where there is one cube and where there are many; it will be too early to teach counting to 5 or 10. And from this age, you need to teach your baby to show with his fingers how old he is.

How to teach a child to count to 10

From about three years of age, when children are already interested in numbers (and for some, interest may appear at three years old, for others - closer to five), learning is based on the following principle:

go through the numbers from 0 to 10 with your baby;
teach your child to memorize them using cubes or other toys;
tell the difference between larger and smaller numbers, explain the concept of “half”, use simple examples;
count household items at home or objects on a walk, offer to count together.

Below we will look at methods for teaching children to count to 10 in more detail. To begin with Say numbers from one to 10 to your child., count the objects at hand. Good examples are simple addition of objects: for example, “here was one doll, now we will put the second one next to it, and there will be two of them.” Over time, the number of items counted needs to be increased.

As often as possible, ask your child how many plates are on the table, how many birds are sitting on a branch, or how many dogs are walking in the yard.

It is not recommended to ignore the number zero. First you need to learn the numbers from zero to two inclusive, and then all the rest - from three to 10. In terms of learning, zero is difficult in the sense that it is difficult for children to explain that emptiness can be designated as a separate number.

Something like this: draw two squares, put three dots in one, and not one in the second. Explain to your child that in digital equivalent this will mean “3” in the first case and “0” in the second.

Games, examples and rhymes for learning to count to 10

The easiest and fastest way to teach a child to count is counting on fingers, which we already talked about earlier. But fingers are good only at first; when you teach your child to understand numbers, you should wean him off the skill of counting with them. There are often cases when schoolchildren begin to solve examples on their fingers and cannot do it using any other method. The ruler, which was previously used to memorize numbers, is also not particularly welcome nowadays, as we also talked about.

Other examples and games include:

we see 10 paws of cats (dogs). Answer how many animals there are. You need to count in pairs: two, four, six, and so on until ten;
in the same way he calculates how many pairs of shoes a cat or dog needs;
Looking at your watch, count to 10 in fives.

How to teach your child to add and subtract numbers within ten

When your child has already learned number order, start solving problems with him. examples of their addition and subtraction. Examples could be:

There are four apples on one plate, and two on the second. How many of them are there in total?
There are six apples on the table, and three children. How to properly divide them between them?

Other problems may look something like this, but subtraction will look the same. You should also teach your child in a playful way the rule that changing the terms does not change the sum.

To do this, place a plate with two apples on the table or ask your child to imagine it. Next to it, place another one with four apples. Count how many apples there are, then rearrange the plates and ask how many there will be now. The correct answer is the same.

In primary school Students are explained what tens are using special sticks. Then they are taught to add and subtract numbers by moving through tens.

In the first grade, the student learns to count by full tens using bunches of sticks. And only after that he gets acquainted with the table of addition and subtraction with the transition through ten. If children show success, then this can be taught before school.

In first grade, mathematics instruction is based on three tables:

addition and subtraction up to 10;
examples with transition through ten;
multiplication table.

When a student masters these tables, then in the future he will not have problems with mathematics, even in high school when studying more complex calculations.

And so that the child does not have problems at school, and mathematics is only a joy, it is very important that parents instilled a love of counting at a preschool age. Therefore, the first steps to learning mathematics should be in the form of a game and presented in an interesting way. And the more exciting this process is for the child, the faster he will master counting skills.