Counting is more than saying numbers
Children can often recite numbers long before they can count objects. Counting a scattered group asks them to match one number to one picture, keep track of what they have counted, and know that the last number says how many. These sheets practise all three.
How to use them
Start with counts to 5 and circling the number, then counts to 10, then writing. Counts to 20 suit Grade R and Grade 1, when children start to count larger groups.
CAPS links
- Grade REstimates and counts at least 10 everyday objects reliably, and reads number symbols 1 to 10.
- Grade 1Estimates and counts at least 50 objects, with grouping encouraged to make counting quicker, and writes number symbols to 20.
CAPS describes three stages for Grade R learning: first with the body and senses, then with real objects such as blocks and bottle tops, and only then with paper and pencil. A counting sheet belongs to that third stage, after children have counted real things.
Grade R routines give plenty of counting before the sheet: counting children at the morning ring, giving one plate to each child at snack time, or counting claps. Ask children to estimate first, as CAPS does, then count to check.
Summarised in our own words from the DBE’s Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) for Mathematics, Foundation Phase (2011).
