"Count" Me In

Maybe you are starting this journey of teaching your little ones and you have so many questions! If so, this is a simple post to give you some direction.

Where do I start?
What should my expectations be?
What if my child isn't interested in learning?

Teaching is a part of every day life. While planned teaching is very needed, the early years are really about teaching your child about all the things that are a part of their world. As soon as your child enters this world you begin pushing that first word, don't you? I take advantage of those baby cuddle moments and repeat "Ma-ma" or tell them about how much Jesus loves them.

My little guy is about turn a year old and the next phase for us has started. Once you have moved passed teaching them about the binky, the bottle and crawling, the next phase is right around the corner.

When you start introducing those finger foods and those little hands start learning how to get that little Cheerio to their mouth, it's a perfect time to get started with counting. Count out the finger food pieces in front of them. Don't count all the way to like 20 or anything. Stay around 5 and then just start over again. As your little one gets bigger, continue counting higher as they memorize the numbers.


Besides starting in the high chair keeps them in one place so they can actually focus on learning.

Using a "manipulative" (things that they can touch and feel like the Cheerio) will help them to develop the understanding that they aren't just saying these random words out loud. They will soon discover that "one" corresponds to the item you are counting.

Expectations are hard at this age. All babies, toddlers and preschoolers develop at different ages. Don't be afraid or hesitate to teach them something that "is not at their age level". Let your child discover things and if they don't "get it", don't worry about it. They will. Just keep exposing them to things that they are interested in and the things come up in "their world".

Betty may be a little ballerina. Teach her to count out dance steps. Expose her to all kinds of music. Start with colors on her tu-tu. Talk about the triangle on her ballerina pillowcase.

Junior might be into cars. Teach him to count his cars as he puts them into lines. Start with the letters C, A, and R. Show him the circles on the wheels. Start with the color of his favorite car.

Maybe you are going to the 4-H fair in July. Learn the animals and their sounds before you go. In our family this would include ASL signs that we can sign as we walk around the animal pens.

"monkey" in ASL

Betty may surprise you and just keep counting all the way to 15 by age 2. Junior may be lucky to count to 5. That's ok. Just go with where they are at and keep working. Most likely, Junior is progressing in another area and counting is just something he is not interested in.

The key is exposure, exposure, exposure. Expose them to all kinds of things in their world and watch them grow!!

my little ones dance and music time