Ability to Count Early Fundamental to Success in Elementary School Math

Inculcating the ability to count numbers at an early age can prepare children in acquiring math skills, according to a new study.

A team of researchers from the University of Missouri found memorizing numbers in chronological order not sufficient to prepare children to succeed in math in elementary school. According to them the art of counting or "assigning numerical values to objects in chronological order" is of prime importance to build up a strong base for math.

"Reciting means saying the numbers from memory in chronological order, whereas counting involves understanding that each item in the set is counted once and that the last number stated is the amount for the entire set," Louis Manfra, an assistant professor in MU's Department of Human Development and Family Studies, said in a news release.

"When children are just reciting, they're basically repeating what seems like a memorized sentence. When they're counting, they're performing a more cognitive activity in which they're associating a one-to-one correspondence with the object and the number to represent a quantity."

To examine the association between reciting and counting ability of a child in pre-school and math scores in first grades, researchers used data that included 3,000 children from low-income households.

They found children who knew how to recite and count up to 20 scoring high marks in first grade.

"Counting gives children stronger foundations when they start school," Manfra said. "The skills children have when they start kindergarten affect their trajectories through early elementary school; therefore, it's important that children start with as many skills as possible."

Only a minority of children (10 percent) included in the study were able to count and recite up to 20. Parents often do not take initiative to teach their children the basics of math thinking they will learn at school and teachers, on the other hand hope children learning the abilities at home. A misconception between parents and teachers may be leading to the occurrence, the authors said.

"These low-income children aren't learning math skills anywhere because parents think the children are learning them at school, and teachers think they're learning them at home," Manfra said. "This is a problem because it gives parents and teachers the idea that it's not their responsibility to educate the children, when it's everyone's responsibility. This is problematic because, when the children enter kindergarten and are at lower math levels, they don't have the foundational skills needed to set them on paths for future success."

Results of the study will be published in the Journal of Research in Childhood Education.