Counting

When a child first learning to count, a child counts by rote memorization. Which means he will will say the name of the numbers from 1 through 10 because he memorized the order of the words, "onetwothreefour..." Before a child understand one-to-one correspondence, he count by rote memorization. When asked to count a small group of objects, he will likely count quickly through the numbers he has memorized and randomly point the objects being counted instead of touching and counting each object just once. 

For yesterday lesson, one of my take-away is I learnt about teaching children on how to count  in group. One of the idea that I would to teach my children in class is using dice as grouping tools. As we all know that children in preschool after need to be divided into groups for various activities. Instead of simply telling the children which group they will be placed in, I will hand out flashcards that feature the different sides of a die. Children who received a flashcard with a one will be grouped together, those with a two will be grouped together, and so on. By this stage, children must be able to count the number of spots in their die to determine the group to which they belong.  From this activity, I can also see which children has the ability to subitize the number dots =)

I believe that learning how to count is a skill which is essential for living in today's world. Counting may come easy for some children, mastering the technique many be more difficult for others. Children who gain confidence in their counting skills at a young age are more likely to develop the skills necessary to excel in all areas of their education. Therefore, the teacher role is important in planning mathematical games such as using dice as an educational tool to help children improve math in a non-threatening way.