Counting, notwithstanding the, er, tale of Clever Hans, is so basic that it seems to be an innate ability in several animal species, according to an article published in Scientific American™ in September 2009.
[Clarification: the word ``basic'' above is being used in context as ``fundamental'', not ``simple''. See tweet below linking to this blog post that missed the point.]
Parents teach their youngsters to count to 10, or children learn it on Sesame Street, and there are numerous studies showing babies can conceive of small numbers and preschoolers can judge greater or less than without knowing exact numbers, but by understanding approximate counts.
In mathematical parlance, the counting numbers are also called the ``natural'' numbers, as existing in nature.
So how is it possible to teach counting, the most natural of mathematical skills, unnaturally? The worst way is to force memorization of numbers and number names before the concept is understood. What kindergartner do you know that owns 90 of anything, except maybe for Beanie Babies? Open a Scrabble set and look at the 100 tiles. Is that a number of objects that a kindergartner needs to comprehend in their child's world? Memorizing the names of numbers at the age of 5 before actually understanding the concept of the number is simply put, backwards. Mathematics should not be taught that way. A child should understand the number along with the name, before reading, and then writing the number.
If particularly anal parents want to push too-large numbers on their child at an early age for fear of falling behind, so be it, but the paranoia should not be systemic.
CCSSI standard K.CC.1 ``Count to 100...’’ carries into the next year's standard 1.NBT.1 ``Count to 120...’’ along with a few variations on the theme. We won’t pause long to chide CCSSI for such arbitrary parameters because there is a much more compelling standard in the parallel Measurement and Data strand that pertains to counting, which creates the potential for some real advancement of thinking and analytical skills in early childhood.
[Clarification: the word ``basic'' above is being used in context as ``fundamental'', not ``simple''. See tweet below linking to this blog post that missed the point.]
Parents teach their youngsters to count to 10, or children learn it on Sesame Street, and there are numerous studies showing babies can conceive of small numbers and preschoolers can judge greater or less than without knowing exact numbers, but by understanding approximate counts.
In mathematical parlance, the counting numbers are also called the ``natural'' numbers, as existing in nature.
So how is it possible to teach counting, the most natural of mathematical skills, unnaturally? The worst way is to force memorization of numbers and number names before the concept is understood. What kindergartner do you know that owns 90 of anything, except maybe for Beanie Babies? Open a Scrabble set and look at the 100 tiles. Is that a number of objects that a kindergartner needs to comprehend in their child's world? Memorizing the names of numbers at the age of 5 before actually understanding the concept of the number is simply put, backwards. Mathematics should not be taught that way. A child should understand the number along with the name, before reading, and then writing the number.
If particularly anal parents want to push too-large numbers on their child at an early age for fear of falling behind, so be it, but the paranoia should not be systemic.
CCSSI standard K.CC.1 ``Count to 100...’’ carries into the next year's standard 1.NBT.1 ``Count to 120...’’ along with a few variations on the theme. We won’t pause long to chide CCSSI for such arbitrary parameters because there is a much more compelling standard in the parallel Measurement and Data strand that pertains to counting, which creates the potential for some real advancement of thinking and analytical skills in early childhood.
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