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Math Counting Adventures
By Lynn Moore
How did your preschooler react to the New Year count down? Even though most preschool children were probably sleeping when the New Year began, many knew the countdown chant: ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one...Happy New Year! The skill of counting backwards is introduced to school-aged children, but preschoolers enjoy counting adventures all their own.
Rote Counting
Rote counting is the first type of preschool counting adventure. Rote counting means counting by saying the numbers by memory (not counting objects). The same fantastic memory that allows preschoolers to memorize the words of a familiar book enables them to recite numbers in order. Rote counting is a wonderful preschool school accomplishment that can be used as an impromptu activity when waiting for an appointment, riding in the car, or standing in a line. The adventure of rote counting comes when preschoolers enjoy the repetition of reciting the words. Preschoolers are busy showing the world that they are “big”, and reciting numbers from one to ten for Grandma is one way to get that recognition.
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How did your preschooler react to the New Year count down? Even though most preschool children were probably sleeping when the New Year began, many knew the countdown chant: ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one...Happy New Year! The skill of counting backwards is introduced to school-aged children, but preschoolers enjoy counting adventures all their own.
Rote Counting 
Rote counting is the first type of preschool counting adventure. Rote counting means counting by saying the numbers by memory (not counting objects). The same fantastic memory that allows preschoolers to memorize the words of a familiar book enables them to recite numbers in order. Rote counting is a wonderful preschool school accomplishment that can be used as an impromptu activity when waiting for an appointment, riding in the car, or standing in a line. The adventure of rote counting comes when preschoolers enjoy the repetition of reciting the words. Preschoolers are busy showing the world that they are “big”, and reciting numbers from one to ten for Grandma is one way to get that recognition. One-to-one Correspondence
One-to-one correspondence is the type of counting a preschooler uses to see how many she has of something. When she counts the number of cookies on a plate, she is saying one number for each cookie. Preschoolers can help with household jobs like setting the table, another example of independence (being “big enough” to do things). How many people are in our family? How many napkins do we need?Number Recognition in Print
Number recognition in print is another major accomplishment of the preschooler. Many preschool television programs and picture books emphasize numbers in print. While this is an important pre-academic skill to the preschooler, each discovery of a number in his world is amazing. The numbers of a gas price, highway number markers, the number candle on a birthday cake, and the aisle numbers at the grocery store are a few places that the number recognition adventure continues for the preschooler.Math Concept Words
Other number concepts are also part of the preschool math adventure. Preschoolers describe a large amount of something as being many or having lots and lots. They can tell who has more and how old they are. Preschoolers can also describe an amount as some, but not all. For example, we picked up some, but not all of the toys.Like this article? Get more like it in your inbox. Subscribe today to our free weekly newsletter.