Number Sense: The Importance of Learning to Count

Developing number sense is the first step every student of mathematics must take on their journey to mastering the subject. Counting is the cornerstone of number sense and involves understanding what numbers represent and the relationships between numbers.   This skill is developed in young children from Grade 1 to Grade 3 and includes the following concepts:
 
Understanding what number words mean
When children first learn to count, they recite numbers by heart, which only means that they have memorised them. They may remember that the number two comes after the number one, but they have no understanding of what that means. To help children recognise the value of each number word, teachers use objects which add a visual element to the exercise.
 
If you want to try this at home, you could use buttons or seed pods which your child can interact with. Then, ask them to count out the numbers and perhaps move the objects a little closer so they can see that the number one refers to a single object, and the number two refers to double the objects, like this:


This way, children not only learn that the number 5 is the fifth number in the sequence; they also understand that it refers to a total of five objects.
 
Recognising the relationships between numbers
The next step in developing number sense comes from being able to recognise the relationships between numbers. For example, understanding that the number 2 is a smaller number compared to the number 4 is an important skill. And it’s a skill that will help them find and apply the patterns that make up multiplication tables.

Using visual aids to show this difference will, once again, help children to grasp this concept, like this:


With buttons representing the different numbers, it’s easy to see that one contains more objects than the other. And in this case, the number 4 contains twice as many objects as the number 2. From here, we can demonstrate the multiplication table for the number 2:


It’s clear that as the table progresses, the number of objects increases by two objects at a time. Now, reciting the times table for the number two is simply a matter of adding two numbers onto the previous answer.
 
Identifying Place Values
Once children learn to count beyond the number 10, they must develop the ability to understand the value of a number depending on where it is placed. For example, in the number 15, the 1 represents the number of tens, while the 5 represents the number of ones. This can be demonstrated with blocks as follows:
This concept is important for basic addition as children will better understand that number which occupancy the same place value must be added together, starting with the units first. So when asked to add 15 and 14 up, they’ll start by adding the 4 and 5 together, giving them a total of 9 which remains in the units column. Then, they can add 1 and 1 together which makes a total of 2 for the tens column. Together, the 2 and 9 make up 29, which is the correct answer. This formula is also used when subtracting numbers.
 
Counting on a solid foundation for a future in mathematics
 
For all children, learning to count is their first experience of mathematics. It requires the ability to think abstractly as the symbols are used to represent objects and concepts. Physical objects can be used to help children visualise and understanding these concepts and from there, identify and experiment with the relationships between the numbers.
 
A solid understanding of these basic concepts will help any student of maths develop their skills and abilities in the subject, just as our range of additional exercises in electronic format worksheets for mathematics assist students from Grade 1 right through to Grade 12. For more information, please contact us with your questions.


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