Number hunt: an easy way to discuss numbers with young children.
- Frédérique and the Wooden Fellows
Let’s go back into early mathematics this week, and delve a little further into one of the areas, and talk about counting. Engaging young children with early mathematics is indeed a great way to see their uniqueness : )
Brief review of numbers and young children
Young children are often quite curious about numbers, especially big ones, but counting accurately requires some practice. Indeed, counting involves for instance:
- Knowing the word sequence of counting numbers (rote counting). The English sequence is arduous to learn, as it has unpredictable patterns. Ten-one, ten-two, ten-three, would be more predictable / more straightforward to remember than eleven, twelve, thirteen, etc.!
- Keeping track of what is counted (one-to-one correspondence). As they count, children can point at objects to keep track of their counting. A child may know how to root count to 20 but may still need some practice to count 10 blocks accurately!
- Understanding that the last number recited is the number of objects counted (cardinality). A child may count 3 marbles accurately (one… two… three!), but when asked “show me three”, the child may point to the last marble they counted, instead of the whole set.
The Fellows and I are working on brief videos to explain those three different skill sets further. Meanwhile, I thought we should start with a pre-step, similar to going on a letter hunt as young children begin to learn how to read, that is going on a number hunt. It is indeed a great way to introduce, and discuss number representation and number use.
Spotting numbers around us: few examples
Numbers are all around, as they are used to count, measure, and create identifiers (e.g., phone numbers, street numbers, etc.), and can be spotted in the home, at the grocery store, on the street, and even in nature! Here is an example of what we found during a walk in Watauga county, NC (bonus, it was an excellent way to keep motivation up as we walked a few miles).
Maurice, Madame Rigolotte, and Petite Clothilde are sharing a few more examples of opportunities that may naturally arise to discuss numbers with young children.
Spotting numbers on a thermostat
With the change of seasons, and the temperature getting cooler with the fall, you may have to adjust the temperature of your home, or check it on a thermometer. Both provide an opportunity to spot a number (e.g., 72), discuss its meaning (e.g., the temperature of the room, 72 oF), and maybe extend it to showing what comes next, if you want to heat the room a bit, or before, if you want to cool it down.
Spotting numbers on a ruler (and knitting needles!)
We also often engage in all kinds of tasks involving numbers, as we cook, woodwork, or engage in other crafts.
Let’s take a look at Petite Clothilde, measuring her latest knitting project. So many numbers on the ruler! What do they mean? How are they used? Needles also come with a number associated with their size, highlighting the use of numbers to label the size of knitting needles.
Spotting numbers in an elevator
If you live in, or nearby, buildings, elevators also provide opportunities to discuss numbers, with the highest numbers giving us an indication of how tall the building is, for instance. I am particularly fond of French elevators, as the ground floor is identified as ZERO (remember? zero is a number to discuss, too!). Hence, during a single elevator trip, you can discuss zero, positive numbers (above ground) and negative numbers (underground!)
Spotting numbers on a phone
Finally, as you may know by now, Maurice is fascinated by phones, all displaying the 10 digits of our base-ten system, that can be used to make ANY numbers. With our digital phones, young children are less used to seeing this kind of prehistoric tool, but if you spot one, take the chance to discuss their use! How would you call Grandma? Or Auntie?
Wrapping up with an invitation
I hope this post give you an idea of the benefits, and simplicity to implement, of number hunt. What else would you add as numbers you daily spot? As always, feel free to comment or use the contact form.
See you next week!
Carpenter, T. P., Franke, M. L., Johnson, N.C., Turrou, A. C., & Wager, A. A. (2016). Young children’s mathematics: Cognitively guided instruction in early childhood education. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Clements & Sarama. (2003). Engaging young children in mathematics. Routledge.