[GuatMommy2Be]

I'm stumped.

M gets fixated on a number and that then becomes the only number in the world of numbers. A few weeks ago it was "do" (2), and now her number is one.

We have baby einstein flash cards to count (for example, her favorite card is 5 woo-woo's (dogs) - she likes that, but does not get past "one" - so she just goes "one.... I say two.... and she says one......."

Thanks!

[SKL]

I think she's pretty young to be saying her numbers, though she may be aware of what the words mean when she hears them.

What I do is, I count things that are found in our everyday work and play; I count steps and other repeat actions, and how many blocks they stack as they are stacking them; I count while holding up my fingers; we have a wooden number puzzle and number books and I show them the similarities between the numbers in the books, on the puzzle, and wherever else they happen to be. I talk about number concepts, e.g., that big girl is riding a bike with 2 wheels; little girls have trikes with 3 wheels; cars have 4 wheels. When they were littler, I'd tell them stuff like "I will give you two Cheerios. One, two." Books like "Bears on Wheels" and "Ten Apples Up On Top" are good for number concepts - my girls were ready for these books at around 18 mos. Both kids can show me 1 and 2 items and say one and two (when they feel like it); at least one understands and says 3 and 4 (when she feels like it). I suspect they understand more.

Like most things, they know a lot more than they let you see. Just keep showing her how numbers are an integral part of life, and she'll get it.

[annaguat]

We emphasize learning to see number when layed out in groups. A fun and helpful little book for the parent is An Easy Start In Arithmetic by Ruth Beechick It is geared towards K-3 grd though but I found it helpful for me. Anna

[Saya]

Well not to sound like I'm letting TV teach my child, but what's been GREAT for us for counting has actually been this Sesame Street video:

Amazon.com: Sesame Street - 123 Count With Me: Jochen Brauer: Movies & TV

It's actually a lot of fun - even mommy enjoys it!

Other then that, just repetition! I count the steps we walk down, the coffee scoops going into the pot in the morning, just about everything! With A I find that flashcards don't do it for her - she has to have physical things she's counting.

[mommytoEli]

she's not too young to learn to count...just don't push her if she is not interested. eli learned to count with a leapfrog toy and video. cheesy and lazy? maybe, but he can count.

his favorite:

100 Hoops Basketball Counting Game (Bilingual/Spanish)

this also comes in a dvd you can get it at target:

Math Circusâ„¢ Video (VHS)

i'm not sure why i can't find this anywhere right now, but eli loves it and it helped so much because if you put a number in the reader, it will only count to that number...so you can start easy ...like number 1-5, and then give them 6-10 once they can count to 5.
Amazon.com: Leap Frog Fridge Phonics & Numbers Magnetic Learning Set: Toys & Games

a really easy thing is just count all day, by yourself. like if you are making lunch and your kid is sitting waiting for it. count as you do each thing. 1 (as you get out the bread), 2 (as you put it on the plate), 3 (as you open the peanut butter)....they don't have to participate to be learning.

i bet you will find that she is counting in no time.

[Devora]

If your signature line is correct and she's just 2, then she is too young for you to be worrying about this. I concur with SKL about counting things as part of playing, when you're shopping or cooking, while out for walks, etc. Flashcards aren't going to do it for most toddlers because they're too abstract (relying on symbolic representations rather than tactile experiences) and not engaging enough.

Also, keep in mind that there's a difference between saying the numbers and actually understanding the concept. Most kids learn to recite numbers before they really understand what they mean. For example, when my niece was around 3 she could count very high, but while playing a simple card game with her where she needed to know which card had "more" she couldn't identify that 10 was "more" than 2. She knew the order, but not the idea of counting. This is why children will often seem to be counting but not understand when to stop. So there may be 3 items but they keep going on to 10 when they are supposedly counting.

When children start to grasp the concept of counting it's usually at first tied to concrete experiences. For example, by 2.5 my son knew the difference between having 1 item versus 2 items -- but it was also clear that for him it was tied to whether or not both of his hands were full. So he knew that "1" meant that he still had an empty hand and "2" meant that both hands had a cookie. This is a start, but it's not to be confused with actually understanding numbers. For example, if you asked him at that time to distinguish between 4 or 5 of something he couldn't do it.

Keep in mind that a lot of the supposedly educational stuff you see (flashcards, videos, toys) aren't clearly connected to what is known about cognitive development in children or about how children learn. The people who sell these products want you to think it's all based on research, but a lot of it either isn't or it's a bad interpretation and application of the research on child development. For what it's worth, I'm speaking here as a (slightly cynical) psychologist.

[DPline]

I second (third? fourth?) that she is pretty young, but I did what others have mentioned about counting things in ever day life - steps, things we were buying multiples at the store, whatever. Also, my younger two LOVED the Leapfrog DVD's that MommytoEli mentioned. The math one for counting and the letter factory ones for learning letters and letter sounds. They just picked it up without realizing all that they were learning.

[CEB]

I agree that you should not be stressed. We have used on repetition and fun things DS likes. So when we gave him a "treat" we always count it out as we put it in his snack cup and encouraged him to count with us (one, two, three, four etc goldfish/cheese puffs/cheerios etc) and we counted out toys being put in the tub etc. For a long time he ignored us, and that was OK, but at some point he decided it would be fun to join. Now he does the counting all on his own - though he often has a thing against the number six (four, five, seven). He also really liked the book Counting Cockatoos - it caught his imagination and helped in the process. Now he will look in his cup and say "three ice" without counting individually.

[JustBarbara]

Ditto on the above posters - don't sweat it. DS did learn to count to 10 early but ... sometimes he would go 1,2,3,8,9,10. We use items like food - here's one grape, two etc. books, stones, leaves, goldfish (the crackers) etc. At daycare they don't 'play' with the food but use other items for counting - dinasours, bricks, cars - anything the little ones are interested in.

[bbeard72]

Our son turned 2 in June and has known how to count since before he was 2 but this is due to his preschool. They learned how to count in Spanish and english (they have weekly spanish class) and i've noticed that at first he counted in spanish perfect to 10 but would skip all around in english. Somehow it seemed easier for him in spanish.

[mayaprincess]

As a teacher, I can tell you that we spend an entire week on learning one letter and one number. Repetition is the key.

Sometimes, one letter or number is easier for a child to verbalize so that one stays in their mind much better.

Don't push, but keep trying. Don't overwhelm your child. Try saying the numbers all the way thorugh once and then concentrate on just one number for the rest of the lesson.

[GuatMommy2Be]

Wow, I did not realize my post came off sounding stressed because that is definitely not how I intended it to be.

Thanks

[ej-momtobe]

Like others have mentioned, DS learned to count pretty easily because we just incorperated counting into the things he was doing and enjoying. Like when he goes down a slide....i say 1,2,3, go. When giving him blueberries, i count them out (up to 10), One day he started imitating.

DS learned to count before he understood counting...he learned the words 1,2,3,4 etc as a sequence of words.

[BrockBaby]

I agree with all the posters that said to just count things in your everyday life. Rote counting is being able to recite the numbers in order. It does not mean that the child has an understanding of One-to-One Correspondence.

Fingerplays and songs are another great way to teach mathematical concepts...without the children knowing it...lol

Your child is a little young for this...but one thing we love to do at circle time is take a die, and have the child roll it...we then count the dots, and then do an "action" that many times. Sometimes we squat and jump, sometimes we do jumping jacks, clap, give high fives...you get the drift. Kids LOVE this. You can also get dice with the numbers on it...for when they get older and you want to know if they understand what a number six means, per se. They also have blank dice that you can put whatever you want on it...just some ideas....

[Quesita]

Haha. Liana LOVES the number TWO. It is really the most important number in the universe. Our life goes like this.

Bird! Mama! Bird!
TWO! TWO bird! Mama! Two bird!
MORE. More bird! Mama! More bird!

Basically, counting means saying a noun, then, if we see another of the same thing, we understand two. Anything past two... ranging from 3-3000 is more.

We live in an elevator building and her daycare is in an elevator building. We always count the floor numbers in the elevator. She gets very excited about the number 2, and recognizes the number one when it appears. Every day when we get out of the elevator on our way home from daycare, she says "Bye two! Bye one! Bye two!" It is so adorable that she's even got me saying it.

So I identify with the TWO obsession.