When do children typically learn to count?

[HappyRays]

So, my DS has been very lazy up until now with his milestones 😂 for example he didn't crawl until he was 11 months!

He's now 20 months and I'm really excited at how he's developing. Something he's started doing is telling us how many fingers we're holding up. So we'll hold up two fingers and he'll say '2', then 5 fingers etc all in random order so he's not just reciting the numbers, he's actually counting.

Is this typical for a 20 month old? Is this slightly ahead? I've seen on Google that 2 year olds can 'recite' numbers in order, but that actually counting comes later.

Clueless about typical development so keen to know if anyone knows what is expected at this stage? Would love to know if he's excelling in this area as he was so behind in others 🤭

A quick google says babies learn to crawl between 7 and 12 months, so not lazy/late!

He might be recognising that all fingers up = 5 etc rather than counting each finger, if you give him 5 of something else can he tell you there are 5 of them? Still a cool/fun thing to do with him! there are lots of good counting nursery rhymes he'd probably love like 12345 once I caught a fish alive, 5 little ducks, 5 currant buns, ten in the bed etc. and books like the very hungry caterpillar.

Have fun OP!

This is definitely early. My daughter was similar - some of her first words were numbers and she could recognise some numerals before she was 2. I have videos of her counting my fingers showing 1:1 correspondence before 2 as well. Shes now in y1 and way ahead of what they do in class.

In reception they spend a lot of time counting things up to 10…presumably some children can’t do it until then and that’s considered normal.

I think that's advanced. My daughter is 2 1/2 and she can't recognise fingers corresponding to numbers. She's just learning to count to 10 but still misses out numbers. I can't remember when my son picked it up, maybe towards 3(?).

You should lean into it if it's something he enjoys and you can bond over. My son has always loved letters so we've encouraged it by reading words and letters when out and about.

It's so random what they are ahead on and what they are later on isn't it!
I didn't realise but counting goes through so many stages, first is counting in order IE just repeating 1,2,3,4 etc, then later it's one to one correspondence which is counting things up. And then there's subitisation which is looking at a quantity of something and instantly knowing how many without counting.
Sounds like your little one is in the way to them all, which is a good milestone for preschool.
If you and they are enjoying it then keep going, the love of maths starts early!

Thanks so much for the responses! Maths is absolutely not my forte, so he has most certainly inherited this from my husband! He also loves to be 'tested' with recognising numbers (as in, we'll show him the number 4 and he'll shout 'four') and will repeatedly hand us his numbers book whilst shouting 'more'! Very cute and but very surprising 😂 it's a lot of fun.

What you're describing is not counting, it's Subitising. It's innate in children to recognise quantity and you've provided the language to your child to say how many fingers you're holding up. Do it for everything: "one shoe, another one shoe, now you have two shoes on" - "you've got two strawberries here and three strawberries here". This helps reiterate that the quantity refers to everything, not just two fingers = two, if you see what I mean. It really helps primary aged children to be able to have solid number sense from early years.

Came on to say exactly the same thing. He's recognising the shape of two fingers as 2 in the same way the numeral means two or two dots on a die means two.

This is not counting, but it's all good regardless. Don't overthink it. Point out numbers in his environment and use numbers in play and in songs and rhymes. No need to labour it beyond that, his natural curiosity will carry him.

By the way I highly recommend numberblocks! My daughter loved it (still does at almost 6 tbh) and it has excellent visuals to support their understanding. She could explain at just turned 3 how you could tell if a number was odd or even after watching that!

Stop obsessing over what your child can or cannot do! Crawling at 11 months isn’t being ‘lazy’. Some children never crawl!

Neither of my DC crawled at all, they're 18 and 20, should I be worried?

But seriously they all do things at different ages, a few months here and there do not indicate genius babies, on the whole...

Though mine could DEFINITELY read the word Tesco at 18 months (sorry,they recognized the shape of the letters and the colors on the massive building we shopped in), maybe that makes up for them never crawling

It's great at 20 months, both in terms of language and the skill. I agree it is subitising, but my kids were both taught that at school in Reception, so great he already knows.

I enjoy 'obsessing' over what he can do 🙂 It's such a pleasure to see him develop and I'm proud every time he does something new, especially things that are a little advanced.

And he absolutely was lazy 😂 he wouldn't even reach for his toys.

Definitely go with your child's enthusiasm. My oldest DC really struggled with numbers (still does now in late teens). My youngest was like your DC and is really, really good at maths and also loves it so much. Youngest is still years "ahead" in that domain and DC still enjoys 1:1 time learning new maths as a teenager. It probably helps that I'm a mathematician.

Children are so unique aren't they! My lovely little boy didn't crawl until 11 months either, also didn't roll until 10 months (other than once flukily at six months!) and now at 14 months he's not walking but he can count to 10 on his fingers (my favourite parts of this are the pronunciation of seven being "sedden" and how he elongates teeeeeeeen like I do 😂) whether your little one's milestones are early are late I love that you're so in tune with it and so fascinated by it, I'm exactly the same!

Can he count different objects too? My son has always been interested in numbers from a similar age too. Counting different numbers of toys, different types of food on his plate, how many people in the room etc. On the other hand my daughter is nearly 3 and still struggles with counting objects (instead of just reciting numbers) but her writing and colouring is quite similar to my son (who is now 4.5!). It's interesting how they have developed so differently.

Orchard Toys have a good range of counting games, would recommend.

I think it’s advanced, my three year old still counts things multiple times so she always gets ten, she’s just starting to recognise written letters and numbers too 😂 my 18 month old is better with numbers than her sister at the same age mostly because I hadn’t introduced numbers to my three year old at this age. I guess you are helping him with the exposure.