• About
  • Projects
  • Contact
  • Join
  • Login
Erikson Institute Early Math Collaborative
Early Math Collaborative
  • Why Early Math?
    Our Mission Big Ideas of Early Math Precursor Concepts Racial Justice
  • Professional Development
    Whole Teacher Approach Learning Labs Instructional Coaching Leadership Academies Our Books
  • Online Learning
    Our Resources Professional Learning Modules Series Bulletin Board Online Degrees
  • Research
    Teacher Development Publications Presentations Measuring Math
  • Events
    Events Calendar Summer Institutes Promising Math
  • Ideas
  • Why Early Math?
    • Our Mission
    • Big Ideas of Early Math
    • Precursor Concepts
    • Racial Justice
  • Professional Development
    • Learning Labs
    • Instructional Coaching
    • Leadership Academies
    • Our Books
  • Online Learning
    • Online Learning
    • Professional Learning Modules
    • Series
    • Bulletin Board
    • Online Degrees
  • Research
    • Teacher Change
    • Publications
    • Presentations
    • Measuring Math
  • Events
    • Events Calendar
    • Summer Institutes
    • Promising Math
  • About
    • About
    • Projects and Partnerships
    • Staff
    • Contact
  • Language Switcher
    • English
    • Español de México
  • Ideas
  • MyDashboard
  • Login or Join Today

Math Strands

Types

for

Audience

Special Topics

Counting

Counting is a part of young children’s daily life. They love to count everything from the stairs they climb to the crackers they eat. But what is counting? What is there to be understood about it? What do most children know about counting? What more is there to be learned? Counting seems very simple; but it is really quite complex. By developing a sophisticated sense of what it is and what kind of counting we ought to emphasize in teaching, parents and teachers can better assist children with the development of those skills and mathematical thinking related to it.

© Erikson Institute’s Early Math Collaborative. Reprinted from Big Ideas of Early Mathematics: What Teachers of Young Children Need to Know (2014), Pearson Education.

There are a number of Big Ideas in counting that are foundational in early learning environments:

  • Counting has rules that apply to any collection.
  • Counting can be used to find out “how many” is in a collection.
cardinality of a set
Series: Hear from the Experts

Two Ways That Language Scaffolds Understanding of Cardinality

February 18, 2020

At Promising Math 2019, Kelly Mix gave a talk about how language promotes the development of numerical cognition in young children. Dr. Mix is the Chair of the Human Development and Quantitative Methodologies department at the University of Maryland.

  • Topic: Counting
  • Age/Grade Level: Adult Learners
  • Tags Cardinality, Promising Math
Counting books for early math 636x363
Series: Book Ideas January 8, 2020

8 Counting Books For School and Home That Tackle Big Ideas

To encourage and develop children’s counting knowledge, here are eight books (with an accompanying download) that are common to preschool classrooms.

  • Topic: Counting
  • Age/Grade Level: Pre-K, Kindergarten
  • Tags Count!, Anno’s Counting Book, Books, Ten Black Dots, Eric Carle, Count and See, Ellen Stoll Walsh, Count Me In!, Lois Ehlert, Mouse Count, Animals, Tana Hoban, Fish Eyes, Denise Fleming, Cuenta Conmigo, Mitsumasa Anno, 1 2 3 to the Zoo, Donald Crews, Cynthia Weill
One to One Correspondence math early math
Series: Focus on the Child October 29, 2019

Why One-to-One Correspondence Matters

Children love to count. Counting helps them make sense of the world and to find out how many of something. With time and practice, children develop an understanding of the “rules” or principles of counting.

  • Topic: Number Sense, Counting
  • Age/Grade Level: Pre-K, Kindergarten
importance of cardinality with in early years
Series: Hear from the Experts October 21, 2019

Cardinality is Critical Preschool Concept with Barbara Sarnecka

After years of studying 3- and 4-year old children of diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds, Barbara Sarnecka has zeroed in on the importance of cardinality.

  • Topic: Counting
  • Age/Grade Level: Adult Learners
  • Tags Cardinality, Promising Math, Subitizing
Counting Collections_PreK_Collectionof5
Series: Ideas at Work October 16, 2019

Counting Collections Builds Strong Counting Knowledge

There are all kinds of things to count in pre-k to second grade classrooms. Counting Collections is an activity that develops the Big Ideas of number sense and counting, such as cardinality, one-to-one correspondence, and…

  • Topic: Number Sense, Counting
  • Age/Grade Level: Pre-K, Kindergarten, 1st Grade, 2nd Grade
  • Tags Cardinality
one to one correspondence
Series: Focus on the Child December 10, 2018

One-to-One Correspondence with Child 15

A child counts an organized collection of bears. Children often sort collections into groups by color. Here, a preschooler assumes he has equal groups until he counts them.

  • Topic: Counting
  • Age/Grade Level: Pre-K, Kindergarten
  • Tags Child 15
Series: Focus on the Child December 8, 2018

Counting a Large Collection with Child 14

A second grader has a partial understanding of counting in equal groups, but is still working on rational counting. Focus on the Child videos are taken from one-on-one interviews with individual children. The interviews are…

  • Topic: Counting
  • Age/Grade Level: 1st Grade, 2nd Grade, 3rd Grade
  • Tags Child 14, Equivalence
Series: Ideas at Work November 7, 2018

Counting on Good Food for the Holidays

Traditions around food and feasts provide rich opportunities to connect math at school with children’s experiences at home. From Diwali to Thanksgiving, fall is a season of special meals with loved ones.

  • Topic: Counting
  • Age/Grade Level: Pre-K, Kindergarten, 1st Grade
  • Tags Seasonal, Holiday, Cathryn Falwell, Family Math, Feast for 10
Series: Book Ideas September 11, 2018

3 "Mathical" Books for More Advanced Counting

Along with being "mathical" award winners, these books provide compelling contexts that help primary grade children understand why more advanced counting is useful and that it isn’t always efficient to count by ones.

  • Topic: Counting
  • Age/Grade Level: Kindergarten, 1st Grade, 2nd Grade, 3rd Grade
  • Tags Sheep Won’t Sleep, Judy Cox, Max’s Math, Kate Banks, One Big Pair of Underwear, Laura Gehl
Series: Book Ideas March 22, 2018

3 "Mathical" Counting Books with Winning Appeal

The Mathical Book Prize is an annual award organized by the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute (MSRI). With an aim to "inspire a love of mathematics in the everyday world in children of all ages," the winners…

  • Topic: Counting
  • Age/Grade Level: Pre-K, Kindergarten, 1st Grade
  • Tags Count the Monkeys, Mac Barnett, 8: An Animal Alphabet, Elisha Cooper, Baby Goes to Market, Atinuke
  • Previous
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • Next
  • Last ››

Do the math.

 

Free videos.

Free newsletter packed with ideas.

Free professional learning modules.

 


Join the collaborative

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Youtube
  • Staff
  • Jobs
  • Funders
  • Legal Policies

Early Math Collaborative 451 N LaSalle Street, Chicago, IL 60654

© Erikson Institute, All Rights Reserved.

  • Erikson Institute
  • The Early Math Collaborative is part of Erikson Institute, the nation’s premier graduate school in child development.

  • Visit Erikson.edu