Just a silly frivolous question not Xmas related but indulge me anyway...

[dingdongmeggymooonhigh]

What age do children learn to count?

I am doing cartwheels here as it wasn't prompted and I am thinking my son is some kind of genius when I'm sure it's quite the opposite and he probably should be able to count backwards in French whilst playing the viola or some such.
TIA
x

ds could almost get up to 20 around second birthday, but nearly 3 months later he hasn't really understood what counting/quantifying is: he 'counts' cars (or fingers or oranges) but never gets the right answer! So he'll point to them one by one while saying '1, 2, 3, 4' etc, but the numbers go at a different speed from the pointing.

His viola playing would bring tears to your yeux though.

PMSL Allioluia, yeux! V. good!

ds (just 4) had only just started to understand the significance of numbers and counting (i.e. he is starting to understand addition and subtraction). Until he had worked out what numbers were for he had absolutely no interest in them however and didn't learn the sequence of numbers until fairly recently (I think after he was 3). He just didn't find it interesting and preferred to concentrate on other things he did understand IYSWIM. I know other children who could recite a sequence of numbers much earlier (probably around 2) but I'm not sure that they were actually counting as such.

my ds is2.8, and loves to count, sometimes getting as high as 16, but it goes a bit like this....

1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 10, 14, 16! Hooray!

he can't yet count objects above 4.

Awww yes I know that ds isn't 'counting' as such and just remembering the sequence, it just touched me really as he doesn't really do that kind of stuff. He is more your "I'll head butt the wall and see what happens to my head" kind of little boy I think that's why today it really did surprise me. He was pointing to the apples in a book and there were three of them and he counted whilst pointing each one, sigh - he atually sat on my lap for a full 5 minutes.

My dd 22 mths counts to six except will flatly refuse to accept the number 5. So it goes 1 2 3 4 6. She doesn't grasp the idea behind it though and just thinks of it as a type of rhyme that you say whilst going up stairs.

Yes Sleighmenere agree with the rhyme thing and love the number five aversion that made me chuckle. Ds says 1, 2, 3...yeh, 3 um, no..pause..1,2 ,3 yehhhh! keeps him happy

[shack] my ds has that same 5 aversion!

It's strange isn't it? Dd actually gets a bit annoyed if you try to insist that 5 comes before 6. It's quite funny.

Brilliant! it's official then - 5 is the enemy!

Erm, except that my DD LOVES 5, ADORES 5, and won't hear of 3. In English OR French (bilingual family, no violas).

DS2 (just turned 2) loves 'saying' numbers - but it goes something like this

2,3,5 14, 15, 16, 25........

DS used to disapprove of 8.

My dd counts 1 2 3 4 6 8 10.

She is 2.3 BTW

I have fond memories of my boys at around 2 standing up in the bath together and shouting "1, 2, 6 JUMP!" before splashing down onto their bums.

yeah, here 5 is the enemy too!!!!

wonder why that is? is it displeasing for the ear??

(dd currently singing in bed... miss molly had a dolly, doing a very bossy "miss molly put her straight to bed!!!")

ds4 is almost 3 and "counts" like this: 1..2..4. Well sort of. He can't speak yet but he has the intonation almost right.

Bozza 8 is the best number ever I can't believe there could be any opposers!

DD is nearly three and counts to 20 forwards and backwards. She counts her dolls, going up stairs, dishing out sweets, and stacking things so it looks like she has some concept of what she's doing - but I could be completely wrong!

DS is 20mo and for the last few weeks has been "counting" - he points at things in books and says "one, one, one, one" and yesterday spent ages counting the Christmas lights... "two, two, two, two, two"!

He also likes the numbers four and six - but has never said five - will be interesting to see if it's the enemy here too

dd is 16 months and counts 1 2 3 4 5 6 9. She counts items up to 3 and ALWAYS finishes on 14 when going upstairs. But, big BUT she refuses to acknowledge father Christmas as anything other than Rudolph.Selective intelligence or bloody stubborn?

8 is adored in this house too. It was the first to be recognised, and is welcomed back like a long lost nanny!

dd2 can count to 11, but it does end with 'coming ready or nooooot'