Before your kids start attending learning centers, you’ll likely begin to teach them counting at home. Most toddlers start learning this critical skill between two- and four-years-old. Here are tips for giving your little ones a head-start on counting. 

How to Help Your Child Learn to Count 

1. Use Dotted Cards

Create flashcards that feature one through ten dots. These shapes are easy to count and won’t distract from the task. 

You can even color the dots to teach colors as well as numbers. Switch the cards around so that you’re not just teaching the kids to memorize the numbers in order.

2. Use Math

Once your little one can recognize numbers, move onto doing simple math. Talk through adding one plus one to make two using a physical representation of the numbers.

Visualizing the way adding creates a sum helps many children understand beginner math. Abacuses are extra helpful for this, as they offer mess-free opportunities for learning. 

3. Play Matching Games

Teach your children to recognize numbers by playing matching games. Create matching cards featuring two cards of the same number and mix them up. Then, have your child pick one and find the matching number.

To increase the difficulty, feature two different items like a set of lion cards and one featuring flowers. This ensures they understand the concept of the number instead of being distracted by the images.

4. Trace & Draw

When kids go to a learning center, they won’t just learn to recognize the number of items. They’ll also learn to know the number by seeing the numeric form written out.

Help little ones ace this task by using lined paper and making dots for the toddlers to trace. Once they grasp this method, draw the number and have them copy it. Then, call the number out loud and have them write it.

If you’re interested in enrolling children in a learning center to improve their math skills, visit A Rising Star Children’s Center in Croton-On-Hudson, NY. The educational childcare provider has been in business for 13 years and offers programs for infants, toddlers, preschoolers, and kids up to age 12. Call (914) 862-4283 or visit their website for more information on their learning programs.