Just wondering what age children start to understand one-to-one correspondence? I realise this will vary but just trying to gauge some sort of average.
Is the only way to develop this to continually count out objects, multiple times a day? So I would count everything and anything, say to a low number like 1, 2, 3 or 1, 2, 3, 4, 5?
My daughter is 17months old. She understands that numbers refer to a quantity, when she has multiples of some object in her hand she will ‘count’ etc. 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9 is what she says at the moment. Sometimes 2, but never 1 and never 5
Is Starfall number section good? She loves the alphabet section, so I could buy the More Starfall bit if it is recommended? Or any other applications/videos for showing one-to-one correspondence?
And what other activities could I do before one-to-one correspondence is learnt? Also are there any tips for seriating? games/activities to play etc?
I don’t want to use Little Math at this time as she hated the trial and I dont think we are going to have any success with it. So I am hoping to follow something like Marshmallow Math, before moving onto one of the other frequently mentioned Math programs (right start etc - I havent had a chance to research any of these as yet)
I wouldn’t worry at 17 months. I realize lots of toddlers do things on here extremely early since they are taught so young but most 17 months old do not have this skill. I have marshmallow math and I do it with my 2 year old. The first thing in marshmallow math is counting objects with them and starting with smaller quantities. Right now the only math I do with my 2 year old is one to one correspondence and I do that by counting objects a lot. It really is the best thing you can do for them to learn it. She just started to pick up smaller numbers so I am expanding to counting more objects. The counting your dd is doing is the precursor to counting with the correct numbers. It does show some understanding of how it works. At 17 months it could take a while for some kids. I don’t know when my oldest learned it. My son learned it with 10 objects when he was 3. I like meet the numbers too but I want my 2 year old to have more counting knowledge before I use that with her. The starfall number section is good because they do count objects and it is fun for them to do.
I’ll just continue to count objects at this stage then. I must admit I don’t do it that frequently - mainly just when we walk up/down stairs. And my daughter has come to expect that and always starts counting herself if I forget to. But I don’t know if a stair is enough of an object, for her to realise that we are counting the steps and not just counting out loud because we are going up/down them - if that makes sense.
She loves things that match/are the same, so maybe I can work on smaller numbers using matching objects. And then go into the 1 for each person that the excerpt says a bit later on, as I dont think she is ready for that.
I’m not worried about her ‘getting it’ soon, but hope to include activities that will encourage the development of this skill. She does seem to pick things up very quickly which is how I came to discover the world of EL. I didnt even know it existed until a few weeks ago and I was searching Google for what to do with her because she had already learnt all her letters, colours, basic ideas like sink/float, big/small, high/low etc.
I might look into the More Starfall because we can use the other activities too.
thanks again. I will try to follow the tips in the excerpts
I see Marshmallow Math is available for Kindle so I think I will buy it for my phone - nice and cheap too!
So you wouldnt worry about trying to do any other activities on non-counting based things? I thought I could include seriating and classifying. I’ve tried to get classifying happening before but my daughter doesnt seem to show much interest in grouping in any particular way. Maybe she is too young? I have mainly just provided coloured objects and bowls of the same colour. Or made piles of her blocks based on colour
Have you taught numerals? That is what James needed to be able to count with correspondence.
I put dots on numerals that corresponded with the amount. Then I had James match the corresponding amounts to the numerals with spoons, sticks, stickers, Cheerios and even m&ms.
I also laid out an amount of m&ms and had him count them. If he got the amount correct he got to eat the last m&m.
No i haven’t concentrated on teaching numerals as yet. She is exposed to them and can recognise an 8, but that is all so far. I wasn’t sure if teaching them would confuse her but I like the idea of putting dots on them. We also play with foam letters and numbers in the bath but I haven’t gotten them all out yet, just 1, 2, 3. I might put some wall stickers in the bathroom. That is where we have our letter stickers and how she learnt all of her letters, so it seems to be a good environment to learn in the bath tub, lol
I also like the idea of counting amounts of cheerios etc. I thought about making laminated cards with circles to put the cheerios in to start off with (like their play book, which I’ve ordered but it hasn’t arrived as yet). The card would have say a number 3 on it and 3 little circles to put the objects in.
I also bought a jigsaw that has the number on one side and the dots/objects on the other side and you have to match them up. I haven’t given it to her yet but maybe I could just get out the 6 pieces needed to count 1, 2 and 3.
Oh those look like great ideas to try! I’m going to have to start making a list. I’ve come across so many fantastic ideas today that my brain is overloaded
I meant that the 1st object is number 1, and the 2nd object is number 2 etc. Realising that counting you are counting something and each object is 1 thing
To teach one to one correspondence in very young children it is really important to physically TOUCH each object as you count it. Even better if you have them touch it as you count it. So moving objects from one basket to another is good.
It is entirely possible to teach it as early as 1.5 it just takes lots of practice. When I did my degree I was SHOCKED to find out it can take children up to age 8 to get this! At the time I had a 4 and a 2 year old who could both do it! I also have 34 3/4 year olds in my class and I think maybe all but 2 has it sorted…
We have had some really good progress in just 1 week. We started watching Starfall numbers and counting more objects in general.
Now my daughter starts at 1 when she counts and counts once per object. Her counting is not perfect yet (1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9 - still missing 5), or sometimes (1, 2, 1, 2, 1, 2 etc).
Previously when I asked her ‘how many’ of something (say a pair of shoes) she would always just say ‘3’. Now she counts 1, 2. Also she saw 2 little dots on something and said 2 without counting
But I am really impressed with the progress in such a short amount of time.
Saxon K has you not only touching the objects, but setting them up in a line and then moving each one forwards when you count it - I guess this helps kids to see which ones they counted already.
Oh that’s a good idea. I don’t think we quite have the ability to leave something in a line yet - she would want to play with it and examine them etc
This morning she took the gears off a toy she had. She took one off at a time and she counted for each one: 1, 2, 3, 4, (i said 5 when she took off the 5th one), 6
She totally has the concept, right?
eta I mean obviously we need a lot more practice but she is on her way
If she took the wheels of one at a time and counted them once each as she removed them then yes she has it! Keep practicing counting to higher numbers then count objects higher. Then start counting backwards
Yes moving each object as you count it is a great idea. I forget these things as I mostly teach 3-4 year olds who don’t need me to move objects. They do need them in a line or pattern though at times.
