Developmental Math Group

Counting is essential when students are doing math. I talked about both counting aloud and counting objects. Now let’s talk about the five counting principles that need to be in place for children to move on.
1. Children need to have a stable counting order. This means counting aloud accurately without pauses. Pausing and errors need to be addressed.
2. Children need to have one-to-one correspondence. This means tagging (giving a number word to each object) once and tagging all objects.
3. Children need to have Cardinality. This means understanding that the last number word said represents the total amount. Children without Cardinality will think that each object has its own name. For example, a child may count three objects (one, two, three) but when asked to give three picks up the third object because it is named three.
4. Children need to understand that any kind of objects can be counted. The objects do not need to be the same color, shape or size.
5. Children need to be able to count objects in any configuration as long as each item is counted once and only once.

After you know how far each student can count, it is time to find out if they can count objects and how it is done (counting plan).
To begin, the youngest children do best if the objects to be counted are placed in a row. That way each object can be touched (tagged) and a number word said for each object.
As the number of objects gets larger, two types of counting should be checked (counting a set and counting out a set).
Counting a set means to place objects in a pile and have the student count. Watch to see if there is a plan for counting (moving objects from the uncounted pile to a counted pile).
Counting out a set means to place objects in a pile and ask the student to count out a specific number less than the amount in the pile. This is more difficult because the student must remember the number asked for and stop the count when the number is reached.
If you are not finding out where each student is in understanding of math are you meeting each at their level?
Go to developmentalmathgroup.com for materials to help.

Developmental Math Group | Math materials for young children Math materials to support students pre-kindergarten, kindergarten, grade 1 and grade 2.Developmental Math Assessment used for planning.

The school year has started. Do you know where your students are in their understanding of math? It is important to spend the beginning of the year assessing so you know where to begin. The DMA for pre-K, kindergarten, grade one, grade two readiness are available. Go to

Developmental Math Group | Math materials for young children Math materials to support students pre-kindergarten, kindergarten, grade 1 and grade 2.Developmental Math Assessment used for planning.

First grader going into grade two learning how to measure with feet and inches making sure to leave no gaps.