To think dd should be able to count to at least 5 by now?

This is the third thread I've read in 24 hours where people are worried their children aren't developed enough by a certain age. There's a range. I know lots of kids who were slow to get going but then developed into very intelligent children. Just relax and let them go at their own pace.

Exactly this! Children just repeat what they hear over and over. My DS could ‘read’ 2 of his bedtime story books before he was three, he could memorise each page and knew what each page said, obviously he couldn’t actually read but to someone looking in they’d think he was some sort of genius lol

My dd wasn't even talking at that age let alone counting to 5. She's now 8 and knows all of her times tables. Similar with my 3.5 yr old. He couldn't count to 5 a year ago, 1 year on and he can count to 10. It's a good idea to keep an eye on development but please try and take the whole what they should be doing at certain ages with a pinch of salt, especially at that age. Babies and children develop in their own time.

Good grief! What is it this weekend with posters coming on here and saying they are not happy that their child isn't doing this, and isn't doing that, at 2, 4, 5.... This is the third thread I have seen in within 36 hours. She is a TODDLER @Gappp Seriously, get a grip, really!

It says online that the royal family are lizards. Leave the kid alone, ffs, she's two years old!

@katherineofgaunt thanks for the link to the development matters document, it's really interesting.
It does mention counting for 0-3s: "count in everyday contexts, sometimes skipping numbers - '1, 2, 3, 5'"
OP, looks like your LO is right on track.

Parents have so much to contend with now. My very strong advice is to ignore Google and comparisons . Children develop at their own pace given good opportunities , there is no need to be teaching things that aren't relevant. I have seen parents 'teaching ' their children to roll over or crawl and feeling deflated if they aren't managing it .Give you baby lots of love and good food;read to them, chat and sing, spend time outside and do a bit of socialising. This will stimulate their brains. Reciting numbers won't benefit their lives in any way and they will learn at school to actually count and read if they haven't picked it up organically before they start.Think about your parents or other adults from older generations, they didn't get bogged down with this stuff and the DC still managed, as long as the opportunities were there .Worry about health and keeping a roof over your head and try to enjoy being g a parent. It goes by so quickly.

Please get a grip. You’ve got a long slog of worrying ahead if this is a “thing” for you.

Ds could count to 10 by the age of 2. We put it down to his inhalers being done to the count of 10 so he heard it over and over and repeated it.

I can pretty confidently say that had no impact on his maths understanding as he got older though. It was just repetition.

Let her enjoy being 2! There is lots of time for her to learn to count.

play games and sing songs that include numbers yes but don’t worry about what she can and can’t do!

My sister didn't speak almost at all until 3. Then spoke full sentences and could read chapter books by 4. She went to Oxford and is very clever. Don't stress

My daughter is 9. I spent so much time worrying about her being ‘behind’

she was a slow talker, potty trained, reader, swimmer and I stressed about all of these instead of just enjoying her.

2.5 is very small still, if you want to help maybe put number blocks on iplayer to watch

I wouldn't worry just yet. We had story books and sang lots of nursery rhymes which involved counting. Had a great book with 5 little ducks which disappeared and then came back which they loved at that age.

It’s not like she has to add a number every three months to get there. Once the concept clicks she’ll probably get all the numbers in a couple of days.

Relax, OP. Kindly, this is ridiculous.

Where?!

Oh well, if you saw it on the internet, it must be true....

Lots of children can count to five or even ten at that age but it's just sounds to them so it doesn't matter at all. They've literally just memorised five consecutive sounds that they hear quite often. Actual counting is when they have an understanding of what each number means and that comes an after 2 and a half.

I don't know where you are getting that from. I've been retired for 10 years but The Early Years Foundation Stage Guidelines used to say they would be expected to count up to 10 objects (not just say the numbers) by the end of the Reception year. I doubt if it has changed that drastically.

Do lots of counting and finger rhymes with her so she is familiar with the number names and associates them.with objects. E.g. 5 currant buns in the Baker's shop using fingers or buttons or anything to represent the buns taking one away each time.

Stop trying to get her to do more, and just watch with curiosity what she can and can't do in ordinary circumstances and while playing - the very last thing you want to do is put her off playing with numbers.

"Counting" is actually interestingly many skills. For example, ability to say the sequence of numbers is different from the ability to recognise how many things are in a group of items is different from being able to count things by one to one correspondence. It can be really surprising what children can and can't do. I forget exactly what it was and what age, but when mine (who went on to be extremely mathematically minded) was, I thought, completely fluent with counting and using numbers, I read somewhere about a developmental stage he "should" be at where he'd be able to answer "which is bigger, 4 or 5?" but not "which is bigger, 8 or 9?" - or something like that, where as adults we'd think, well, he knows about numbers way higher than 9 and he understands bigger/smaller, so surely he'll be able to do both. So I asked him. Blow me down, he couldn't do the thing I'd been sure he'd be able to do. Development is weird, but maybe growing an adult brain just would be!

I teach teenagers. They inhabit a world nowadays where the stress they are under is huge. Many are anxious and a good few refuse school.

My best advice would be to stop worrying about these tiny milestones because at this age it really doesn't matter (I've taught infant school in the past and there's a huge variation at school entry which often doesn't predict as much as you'd think).

What matters is building a happy, confident child who can play, have fun and enjoys life. That's going to set them up for getting through their GCSEs and A levels in the future so much more than worrying about whether they can count enough at 2.

So the Development Matters document image is blurry, not sure why MN don't have better resolution like they used to have, but the image I posted is for birth to 3 for mathematics and nowhere on there does it say 'count to 10'. Or even to 5.

Where did you get your info, OP?

Does it say count or recite numbers? They are two different things. The development matters document is a better judge of what is expected when rather than a random online!

Development Matters 2021 - Government document of how children should develop from birth in different areas. This is what nurseries and schools use to track children's progress.

It does not say they need to count to 10 by 2 years old!!!

(My DS couldn't talk really until he was around 3. He loves Maths now at 6.)

Relax, it will come when she’s ready. Any attempt to teach children before they are ready is likely to result in them putting up barriers and they will sense your uneasiness about it (as much as you think you’re hiding it)
Just play, keep counting objects during play-steps, jumps, claps, raspberries etc with no pressure for her to join in.
She will first learn to say the numbers in order (recite) and eventually will actually count each one number to each object (count) there is a difference.