ABSTRACT
This activity illustrates the basic principles of counting, which will be explored in more detail later in the chapter. Indeed those children who can quickly see the number of cubes are likely to have a well-developed ‘number sense’. They are able see the cubes in a range of ways to help them count quickly and understand that the total of the count is the same as the total of the groups they are counting. They probably have a range of mental images attached to particular numbers. For example, they might see 5 as an arrangement of dots on a dice, as two dots next to three dots, or as a line of fi ve dots. This means that when they see the number 5 they also see:
My guess would be that most of the parents of the pupils that you teach would say that counting and understanding number is at the heart of mathematics. The term ‘numeracy’ embodies ‘number’. There are many counting games and traditional rhymes which show that counting and understanding number is a skill that is often developed outside the traditional classroom. There are also diff erent traditions for fi nger counting – some cultures count each fi nger separately, some use knuckles so that each fi nger can represent a count of three, others use the thumb as a symbol for 5 or 10. Those who have grown up in European cultures tend to start counting with the thumb and assign 1 to the thumb. Finger counting systems that are still used in regions of Asia, and that you may well fi nd in your classroom, allow you to count to 12 on one hand. In this case the thumb is used as a pointer and you touch each fi nger bone in turn. Occasionally the left hand is used to count and the right hand is used to tally the number of counts. So two completed counts on the left hand are shown by holding up two fi ngers on the right hand. This symbolises 24.
