Subitising and a visual approach
Not surprisingly a lot of early learning is about developing a sense of number. Often too much emphasis has been put by parents on their child being able to recite numbers and associate them with the abstract symbols such as 1, 2, 3 etc. However, there is more to early number development than just being able to regurgitate the words one, two, three ..
Counting is clearly important but alongside this, children need to develop a sense of number. Counting physical objects is vital but there is no rush to bring in the symbolic version of numbers until they have started to develop a concept of size. Subitising can help with this development as well as lay the foundations for further conceptual understanding such as conservation, partitioning and aggregation as well as ordering.
Lots & a few
Subitising & a visual sense of size
Subitising is an innate ability by which young children can recognise and distinguish between small numbers of objects. Activities that build on this key ability have been shown to support the early number development of young children. Difficulty in subitising or developing of a sense of number may be signs of Dyscalculia.
The shape of four
Before formal lessons begin and even before numerical symbols are introduced to young learners they can develop fundamental number sense and be introduced to the foundations of some mathematical concepts.
The importance of five
The shape of six