Countin

[sherrardk]

At what age should a child be able to count to 10?

[gary baldy]

I can only speak for my own daughter but she could count to ten (14 to be exact - we have 14 steps on the staircase) when she was about 2 and a half. Be interested to hear other parents experiences.

[cliffsdoll]

it depends on lots of factors, such as

the childs intelligence

how much quality time spent with parents

how much time they spend with children of their own age

wether they attend nursery or playgroup

some would say that children who go to nursery learn faster than those who dont.

my son at the age of 4 years and 3 months started school, able to read and tell the time, he was already reading book four of peter and jane, he was also excellent at maths, he has aspbergers syndrome and is so bright in many ways, yet at thirteen no one can read his scribbles even to this day.

[Butty]

Our little daughter was the same as Gary Baldy's own.

She could count to 10 easily when she was about 2 1/4 and by 2 1/2 could count to 20.

She is approaching 3 at the end of February and knows all her numbers, colours etc but is still finding it difficult to do letters.

We got her a great game at Christmas - Cariboo - which is a brilliantly fun way for them to learn numbers, colours and ABCs. It says it is from 3 and upwards but 2 1/2 year olds can work it out immediately with some adult assistance.

Sherrardk if you're worried about Numbers try buying this month's copy of Junior magazine which includes a free Dorling Kindersley "My first Numbers" DVD Rom.

[mgba_78]

My daughter is 2.5 the end of this month and she can count to 12 ...she knows higher numbers but cant remember what comes in between!

My son who was not interested in counting until he went to school could only really count up to 10.. he started preschool when he was 3 and 2 months old.

[tradey]

my daughter was 2 on the 28th dec shes been counting up to 10 or sometimes 12 since well before she was 2,kids are all different

[Drusilla]

My elder daughter could count to ten at two, but my younger daughter preferred her own system of counting and wouldn't be corrected until she was gone three. Hers went 1,2,3, rabbit, bunny 9 10, leventy .
I never did find out why???

[Goodsoulette]

forget this question cause the only parents that will answer are the ones who boast about how great there kids are. They should really be able to recognise and order numbers up tp 11 by the time they start school. Any earlier and you are laughing. As you can see most kids can do it at 2 but they might just be reeling it off and not grasping the concept. Also instead of adding one thing at a time show children a group of items like buttons and say how many is there? so that they can instantly recognise that there are 4 things on the table.

Children learn lots through play.

BUTTY - has she got a leap pad. I got my son one and it has helped his reading as its lots of fun, he is way ahead in his first year at school with his reading and writing and I think this toy has helpled loads. Not educational toy of the year for nothing.

[Drusilla]

Who are you to accuse loving parents on this site of boasting, Goodsoulette?
As far as I can see a question was asked and some people bothered to answer, which is what AB is all about, isn't it?

[Goodsoulette]

im a loving parent and i do it too. Noone whos kid couldnt do it at 5 is gonna post to this so she is gonna get a biased view. I stated the curriculum guidelines and exactly the sort of problems encountered by not teaching a child correctly.

[Butty]

Yes Goodsoulette her grandparents bought her a My First Leap Pad for Christmas.

It came with the Leap book which helps with counting etc and we added the Winnie The Pooh book as well because she likes those characters.

She likes playing it with us but hasn't really grasped it enough to play on her own - although it is something that she is trying to get to grips with in the car.

[curiosity]

Being able to spell counting comes a lot later!

[kick3m0n]

my wee guy could count to 13 (our stairs in teh hosue) when he was only 2. But really, this is absolutely no indication of intelligence or anythign else. It is rote learning. That is, children learn the sequence of numbers (words) through hearing them used so often and repeating the words. It has no real meaning as such, and can be as much a function of good vocabulary and eagerness to please than any early signs of genius. It is the same with learning songs and recalling the words in a story. Familiarity means they know what comes next. Once the child can use these numbers in a meaningful way, eg work out that if you have three cakes, and eat one, you'll be left with two, then they are on the learning curve with numbers.

[jas1002]

my daughter could count to 20 by 2 1/2 but has only just started to understand what they mean. She is now three.

My older daughter didn't have a clue when she was that age but now gets taken into a small group away from the other kids for advanced maths. Likewise didn't know her letters 'till she was four. She now has a reading age two years above her age. but she's totally clueless at other things

All children do different things at different times, if they're not good at one thing they'll probably be fantastic at another.

[emaaron]

as a teaching assistant in a nursery i see alot of children starting school being able to count to 10 some even to 20 but to them it is like memorising a nursery rhyme they can say the numbers but cannot put them into context if they had to count 10 single buttons they could not do it , they would grab handfuls at a time simply reciting 12345678910 not fully understanding the meaning of the numbers . my son was the same with the alphabet . my children were all between 2 and 2 1/2 when they counted to 10 but i used to count everything with them eg making a game of counting steps or stairs as you go up or down is a favourite