Can your 3 or 4 yr old count??

[countless]

My friends today were discussing their kids classmates and expressing dismay that some 3 and 4 yr olds couldn't count, or count out objects, to 10 or even 20.
I had been impressed that dd age 3.2 is 'number aware'. She likes to 'count' ometimes, running upstairs, skipping etc. But randomly, 1,2,3,7,10. It always makes me smile and I've never attempted to correct or teach her.
So just wondering what is normal...?

My daughter started counting to 10 from about 18 months and now counts to twenty and knows what the numbers are (she was 2 last week)

Yes, I made a point of teaching her, just counting stairs as we went down, for example, or asking her how many things she had in her hand (she loves to clutch about ten tiny things in her hand) and we had a number jigsaw.

It really doesn't matter what any child does at this age and while there's a huge range of normal, there's also an enormous range of what any of it means. Some count by rote, some count meaningfully, some pick it up out of the air, some are coached, some don't give a shit and just want to watch Lion King.

Is your child happy and well adjusted? Do they seem to be enjoying life? Are you enjoying life? Are they avoiding borstal? Yes? You're doing fine.

DS1 is 3.8 and can count reliably up to 14 and might skip a few on the way to 20. He can also do adding and subtracting up to 10.

He is not so interested in letters though and definitely not as socially advanced as many of his peers!

I love you showofhands [girn]

My DS (3.10) can count to 100 and recognise the numbers when written down. He went through the stage where all the odd teen numbers didn't exist too. He "practices" when we are out walking by telling me the house numbers of ALL the houses we walk past. Its very cute but it takes AGES to get anywhere. He is number obsessed and will count anything and everything.

My DD1 now 16 had a report from her playgroup when she was three that left me thinking that we had let her down badly. She couldn't recognise any numbers when written down and had problems recognising her own name, various shapes etc. She now has a large tally of impressive GCSE results. I don't think it makes any difference what they can or can't do when they start school.

I wouldn't worry - it varies massively at this age. My DD's preschool keyworker called me over to say how good she is with numbers, but it's just luck that she's exposed to them so much - I'm doing a maths degree with the OU ATM so she's seen my books lying around. She's not a genius or anyfink :o

Just make sure you count steps, point out patterns and numbers/letters in everyday life.

BTW I haven't figured out how to do links on my phone but for info on the difference between counting by rote and actually counting out objects, google one to one correspondence

Aw, shucks Trinity. [gurn]

My dd at 4 can count to ten no issue and finds twenty to thirty easier than the 'teen' numbers she has taught ds who is 2 to count to ten by rote mostly for game purposes and he actually understands the concept of number value up to about 4 or5. They learn fast when numbers mean fair shares of toys/sweets against older siblings!

But I wouldn't worry, I'm sure counting to ten was listed as an eyfs goal for reception

my son has gdd too,but i dont worry as he will get there in the end

Most of them end up at the same sort of point in the end.

my 2.9 year old can count to 30.

my 4 year old can cound to 100 with a little prompting.

Agree with trinity.

Counting has to mean something too. It's like listening to children who say they are "Brilliant at times tables" and happily count to 3 million in 2's, but ask them what 8x2 is and they are stumped.

DD is 2.11 and for several months now can count to 14. (14 is the biggest number in the world. 14 pounds is the most amount of money ever. Mummy is 14 years old.)

I wouldn't worry. My DD has been going to nursery since she was young and has a good concept of numbers but still mixes them up sometimes. Quite often it is (4,2,5) for a lot of things and she misses numbers out. She'll sort it. In fact DH and I were discussing how sad it will be when she stops announcing 4,2,5 (it's very cute). BTW we are both teachers. He's primary and I'm secondary and we are not concerned. Your wee one will pick it up at her own pace.

My 2.10 yo can count to thirty-ish, but adds his own number between 14 and 15. (I forget what it's called. Memmet I think.)

Showofhands - great!

My 4 year old counts to ten in french, German, Spanish - that's because she has learnt it by rote from eldest brother. If you ask her what 3 is in German she'd look totally blank.

If you ask how many 3 is to a lot of 3 year olds they'd look confused. They have just learnt a load of words in a row.... One, two, three,.....

My 3 yo dd can count and recognise numbers up to twenty, has been able to since about 2 1/2 roughly. I haven't pushed her, think it was a combination of mickey mouse clubhouse(they are always counting), a train puzzle with numbers up to 20, and me being addicted to suduko at the time - she kept asking me what the various numbers were. She's like this about letters now, I think she's just one of those ones that get enjoyment out of it. She can also recognise car badges, ("that's like nanny's car") but I'm not sure how this will help her in later life!

QueeferSutherBANG sorry to be stalking you but I think you missed my note on another thread (if you were CreeperSutherland recently that is, if not please ignore me!)

But do you happen to work at a place with initials ESH?

My three could all count to 20 (rote) in two languages when they were 2.5 They could count out objects up to at least 10 by the time they turned 4 and recognise numbers up to 10.

It hasn't made much difference to their mathematical ability. DS1(8) is a bit of a maths whizz. DS2(6) would rather have his toenails pulled off one by one than do maths. It is a bit early to tell with DD as she has only just started Reception.

I'm sure by the time they are sitting their GCSEs nobody will care that they were all very good at counting when they were 3.

DS is 2.3 and can count up to 10, with a smattering of other numbers after that in a random order. He can read up to number 9 but we haven't been able to explain to him yet how a 1 and a 0 is actually a 10 if that makes sense... he really enjoys his numbers.

Lol my DD used to insist that 10 was read as "one oh" :)

From what I've seen, I'll be happy if Baby can count (even marginally) by the time he's 3.

DP could tell the time and count at 18 months (he went on to be a super-freaky maths genius) and I still can't do my times tables!!

God knows what Baby will inherit.

If you give my DD (4.5) any number at all she will tell you if it is odd or even. So if you say 1,274 she will say even, if you came up with 83,239 she will say odd etc.

Rather than being as result of any super maths prowess, I taught her how to do it one rainy afternoon when we were bored because I wondered just how coachable children really are and she was randomly interested. It is now a useful party trick whenever anyone smugly tells me about their childs apparently amazing counting abilities .