How to teach counting

Pre-K to Grade 1

Counting is matching each object to one number word, in order, to find how many. It sounds simple but rests on several ideas at once: saying the number names in the right order, touching each object exactly once, and knowing the last number said is the total (the cardinal principle).

How to teach it

1. Practise the count sequence out loud first (one, two, three) until it is smooth, since this is separate from counting objects.
2. Teach one-to-one matching: touch or move each object as its number is said, so none is counted twice or skipped.
3. Stress the last-number rule: the final number said is how many there are altogether, not just the name of the last object.
4. Fill in missing numbers on a number track or hundred square to build the sequence forwards and backwards.
5. Count real collections of different sizes and arrangements so students learn the total does not change when objects are rearranged.

Common mistakes

• Reciting the number names but not matching one number to one object.
• Counting an object twice or skipping one in a scattered group.
• Not knowing the last number counted is the total, so recounting when asked how many.
• Thinking a spread-out row has more than the same objects pushed together.