Teaching EFL preschool numbers to students is more than just counting from one to ten in English. The early years are an age where children are discovering numeracy, the ability to understand and work with numbers, and their level of development can really affect how and what we can teach in class. This is a great opportunity for us to work on multiple skills at the same time while not overloading our very young learners’ minds. Here are some basic milestones of numeracy development and activities you can do with your students.
First, a Few Key Points…
These milestones are listed by approximate ages when children tend to acquire these skills. Some children will be faster or slower than others and that shouldn’t worry you too much as an EFL teacher. They will be picking up these skills through their own playtime and other lessons. I’ve also only included a few of the many skills they’ll acquire. For a good summary go here.
Very young children also take a long time to learn foundational concepts. For example, after learning “1” at 2 or 3 years old it can take another six months for that child to learn “2” and an additional three months to pick up “3”.
There’s a lot that goes into understanding “1” or “3” – for example that “1” is the same for counting animals, as it is for blocks, fingers, dots, or cups. It also isn’t affected by the size of the object; a big ball is still “1” – the same as a small ball is just “1” as well.
Then there’s also the written form to learn.
Fortunately, as children pick up more and more foundational skills they can progress faster and faster to new ones as they build up.
Finally, don’t think that once a skill has been demonstrated once that it’s “done”. Much like learning how to ride a bike, your first independent ride without mom or dad holding on isn’t the end of journey. It takes many, many repeated experiences to become fully confident with a skill.
Don’t rush your students and expect them to do the equivalent of jumping a ramp right after they’ve mastered riding in a straight line. Take the time to build their confidence & comfort with these key skills.
2 to 3 Years Old
At this age children learn to “count” from one to ten, however early on it’s more reciting a list of sounds than counting. When they count actual objects they often recite the numbers, sometimes out of order, and not always in clear reference to each object. They also learn to use their fingers to show “1” and “2”.
What to do?
There are several age-appropriate things you can do with students at this age.
Toys!
First, you’ll want to bring out the toys early and often. Use blocks, toy animals, ball, crayons – whatever is available, to play with in front of and with your students.
Start with just three objects and then progress to five and then ten over the year.
Count the toys in a line together. Spread them further apart and count again. Stack and count them before knocking them down. This all helps with their one to one correspondence. Frequently ask your students “How many?” and remember that what’s super simple for you is an interesting challenge for them.
Songs!
There are also a bunch of songs you can sing with your students. A great accappella song is “Counting to Three“.
Hold your fingers up one at a time while counting & showing pictures.
Count with me, one two three!
Three little cats, wearing hats.
Count with me, one two three!
Three little frogs, hopping on logs.…
three yellow ducks, driving trucks.…
three brown bears, combing their hair. (or sitting on chairs)
Other songs like the “Counting Fruit Song” or “Counting Animals Song” from Dream English are great for combining other lexical groups with numbers one through five.
One of my favorites is “Let’s Count to 10“. This song gets students up and moving and works great as a stirrer. Some of the higher numbers are a real challenge for children to show with their their fingers, but this is a song to grow with for a couple years.
3 to 4 Years Old
By this age children are discovering more and more about numbers. They can start recognizing numerals 1 through 9.
They also learn the key skill of how to show one to five with their fingers. Some kids will still struggle with the needed small motor skills, but this is great practice.
During this time they pick up basic addition and subtraction concepts with small quantities of real or pictured objects like 2+1 and 3-2.
What to Do?
At this point you can do a lot more with your students in class.
Toys!
Using toys continues to be a great option. Counting up to ten objects as a class still works really nicely. You can also mix different groups of things like animals and fruits and then ask them to count one or the other. Once children know how many objects there are you can steal a few and ask how many are still there.
After a while children can also start guessing. Play a simple guessing game by quickly grabbing some blocks or crayons and hiding them in a bag or behind your back. Ask them how many there are and show after you’ve had a few guesses.
Children love playing with dice as well, and this is the age for them to start learning to count the dots on each side. Make or bring a big dice and bring it to class. Toss it and have everyone count the dots on the side that shows.
Flashcards, Pointing & Coloring!
At this age children can start to recognize written numbers. You can play flashcard games like Flashcard Safari with the numbers on the wall.
Early on you can play Listen and Point with numbers. Then you can also do coloring dictations with 1 through 3 and later 1 to 5.
Songs!
To practice written numbers you can sing a song like “Where is 2?” with students holding numbers written on index cards.
Where is two? Where is two?
There you are! There you are!
We’re so glad to see you,
We’re so glad to see you,
Run away, run away.
Sing this song to the tune of “Frere Jacques”/”Are You Sleeping,” and continue through all the numbers.
You can give out multiple copies of a number to students if you have more than nine children. Also, start off singing the song in numerical order but switch a random order with older, more advanced students.
There are even more songs to try like “10 Little Butterflies“. You can also change to monkeys, apples or other objects to match whatever the children are learning and have them count with their fingers. Just stop the song at ten and don’t count down. Save that for when the students are four years old. Other songs like “One Bird Sitting In a Tree” and “Five Little Birds” are great for introducing children close to 4 years old to counting down as well.
Finger Games!
You can also make use of your students’ developing finger counting skills by playing Fast Flash. Just hold up your fingers on one hand for students to quickly count before slowly hiding them again. Students can call out what they saw (this also works with numbers on flashcards and/or slowly revealing them).
You can also reverse the game and call out a number to have students rush to show you the number with their fingers.
Once they are old enough and familiar with you leading the game they can play this in pairs or small groups in Speed Speak or Listen Quick.
Finally, children’s books are great for teaching math concepts. One of my favorites is The Very Hungy Caterpillar but others like How Do Dinosaurs Count to Ten? or Ten Apples Up on Top! work great as well. If you don’t have access to copies of the books you can usually find videos on Youtube that work in a pinch.
As you can see, there are a lot of options for things to do with EFL preschool numbers in class.
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