To think my 4yo shouldn't come home from nursery saying 'she is the only one that doesn't know numbers'

[MirkleMe]

Does anyone know what the EYFS objectives are for number recognition for nursery children.

DS is 4 and will be starting school in September.

DS2 can recognise numbers up to 10, sometimes he might need a little help but mostly he can remember them all the time.

He can also count items up to 10, although he may sometimes go to fast and lose track.

Is this way below the level of other children that it would require extra work that would make him feel as if he doesn't know what the other children do?

I'm afraid I can't rememember/don't know what the average or expected learning targets are for that age group.

Your post is rather confusing as you say your 4yo is a she in your title but then mention DS and DS2 so I'm not sure what's going on but...

in respsonse to your question about whether a 4yo should come home from nursery saying that. I would say it rather depends on why she is saying that. If she's saying it because she's been told that then I was say YANBU, as I wouldn't expect any nursery teachers to be singling out any child and their ability levels in that way.

However if she is saying it because she herself has noticed that it is true or that it is how SHE has perceived things (perhaps the others ARE just all better or more confident than her) then it's unfortunate but not really anything the teachers are at fault for. By 4 children are observant and alert, they will notice if others are better/worse than them at almost any task. Some children will be bothered by this, some will not. You will just have to work on his/her confidence.

By the end of nursery then reciting/counting to 10 and sometimes matching numerals and quantities is fine. It kind of depends on the actual cohort though, but he/she might just be in a particularly numerate group.

He is now at the end of nursery so yes I would expect that he knows them (as they do number recognition) but I don't think it is a problem as they repeat it in Reception anyway.
Your ds may be in with an advanced cohort and is aware himself that in comparison to his peers he is not as proficient. At a parent induction meeting for Reception I remember the teachers saying that the children were streamed into groups, but that they would never know whether they were a stronger or weaker pupil. Three weeks in and dd told me "I'm in the Tigers group. That means I am in the bottom set". She wasn't bothered about it and the teacher never told them which group was top/middle/bottom, but they do seem to be aware of these things.

I teach nursery
40-60 age band is to recognise numerals of significance ( is their age) and then recognise numerals 1-5
Not all of them will meet this target
And it's not a problem at all

I would expect most four year olds to recognise numbers 1-10 to be honest.

My two year recognises 1-10. Is be alarmed if a 4 year old wasn’t doing this

I wouldn't be alarmed at all. The vast majority of 2 year olds do not recognise 1-10.

My 3 year old can count to 39 and recognises numbers up to 14 (bizzare!)

My grandson could count to 1000 and recognise certainly up to 100 when he started school. But all are different. I'm confused as to the ds /she mismatch?

Well my 7 month old can recite pi to 1000 decimal places so I'm pretty horrified by how behind all your children are...

I could count, read and write at that age but I was an only child with a SAHM who was able to teach me. When I started infants school at 4yrs old I was the only child in my class who recognised their own name on the name tags. I would say by the age of 8 it had very much evened out amongst all the pupils.

Reciting numbers in a sequence is not counting

Your child sounds a little behind Molly - when are you starting French and trigonometry?

OP - I’d try to work out if someone said that to her or if it’s her own perception. Do you have parents’ evening? Was anything mentioned then?

My daughter is just 4, she can count to 20 (sometimes misses 17!) and gets the concept of value (ie 10 is more than 5, one less than 5 is 4 for example). She recognises up to 5 reliably and up to 10 if she concentrates. I think she's around average based on her peers.

One of her friends can read numbers up to 100 (I am amazed!) and had been doing complicated puzzles since he was two (his parents aren't smug, we just spend a lot of time together so I have noticed). Another can count to 10 and recognise just the numbers 3 and 4. They'll all be ok!

Wow! People really have high expectations of tiny children! I honestly couldn’t tell you what my DCs could count to aged 4. They’re both doing well in school aged 8 and 12. Nursery school? I’d be worried if they weren’t managing the toilet but that’s about it.

I don't think should comes into it. Some children can count/draw/recognise letters/catch a ball better than others at this age. Your ds sounds perfectly fine but there is nothing wrong with others knowing more, or her finding out about it. I'm sure not everyone in his class knows numbers up to 20 but quite a few probably do.

Also "knowing numbers" can mean several things - reciting the names of numbers in the right order, counting, recognising numerals. Again some children will be able to do all 3, some not at all.

If he can say the numbers up to 10, recognise the numbers up to 10 and count up to 10 he'll be totally ready for school.

I do so wish parents would teach their children practical skills like putting on their shoes and doing up their costs of wiping their noses
It's much more useful to your child than being able to recognise numbers

There is so much bragging on this thread! Your 4 year old sounds just fine op don't worry.

It was pi that really interested my daughter. Oh, sorry, I mean pie.

We used to sing the song,One ,two three four five once I saw a fish alive.This taught her upto ten and she was mostly reliable knowing left and right.When she was at school she was allowed to goto the sweet shop and but uoto 50p of sweets as long as she could add them up as she put them in the bag
The most useful thing she had was a clown toy that had zips,buckles,buttons,toggles and laces on his clothes and then sent her to school in appropriate clothes.

Parent Guide to EYFS

This document is useful. I'd be more concerned if your child is coming home feeling upset or embarrassed at being compared negatively to their nursery class. At 4 they should be proud of what they CAN do!

I wasn't bragging. I was stating a fact. My son is good with numbers but he can't scoot on his scooter or ride his balance bike. They are all different.

My now 5 year old couldn't when he was 5. he can count to 100 now without issues, and learned in reception.
He could climb trees, ride a bike without stabilisers, make his own sandwiches andget himself dresses. my priorities were different when he was 4!

when he was 4 obviously!

When I took my son for his introduction morning for his prep school (while he was still at nursery), I asked the head of pre-prep what he needed to know before starting in September. She insisted he must not be taught any letters of numbers as they would do it in reception & if he already new it he would get bored as the class worked through the curriculum. She said ideally he needs to have had as many 'experiences' as possible - nature, games, sports, day trips etc and know the names of as many things as possible (flowers, animals etc) but recognising letters &numbers was pointless before school. I did wonder if her wisdom was correct but it turned out to be excellent advice. My son loved school & learning from the start, never got bored (unlike the boys who could already read a bit) & by year 3 there was absolutely no difference between those who started off reception 'reading' and those who couldn't count or recognise the alphabet (not including children with learning difficulties/ dyslexia of course).