1=uno
2=dos
3=tres
4=cuatro
5=cinco
6=seis
7=siete
8=ocho
9=nueve
10=diez.
Done.
Do you expect something else from me? For a year or so, I worked at a preschool that wanted numbers every class. EVERY CLASS!!!! I thought (and knew) that numbers from 1 to 10, one after another, didn't work. And it doesn't (Let me tell you: I didn't last long there).
Last week I was reading Piaget, a guy from Switzerland who wrote about psychology and learning in children. According to him, numbers are a very abstract thinking. If you say the phrase "three red strawberries", children can see and taste "strawberries", can see "red" and they can't taste or sense "three". So, if you teach numbers to your child like a list, your child will recite number after number but he/she will not count.
Another thing that children sense is the idea of "enough". "Three strawberries" are "enough" for mom, "enough" for dad and "enough"for me. If somebody else come to your house, your child might be worry if he/she doesn't see "enough" ice cream for everybody (so when my daughter's cousins came to our house, I was sure to have "enough" for everybody)
So, how really to teach numbers? Children have to sense them and the only way is to have a physical activity, something that they can do.
A good example could be to count the jumps from your child's bedroom to the main hall or any place inside your house.
Something like that:
¿Cuántos saltos hay? Salta
Un salto, dos saltos, tres saltos, cuatro saltos.
¡¡Cuatro saltos!! Hay 4 saltos.
Moving the body and counting at the same time will make them "sense" the numbers in less abstract way.
¡Feliz Año Nuevo!!!
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