From counting change at the supermarket to estimating how much time it will take to get home; maths is such a big part of so many things we do in our daily lives that we don’t even realise we’re doing maths. With so much maths around us, how do young children begin learning numbers and basic maths functions?

You can start by teaching them how to count.

By the age of two, many children are ready to learn about numbers and how to count. You can teach them by counting their fingers and toes, by singing counting songs in nursery rhymes such as “12345, once I caught a fish alive”, or using counting games and incorporating numbers into everyday situations like how many steps they are taking to walk up the stairs or how many grapes they have on their plate.

Counting helps your child learn the words for numbers and the right sequence for numbers like “1, 2, 3, 4, 5.’’ For example, your child might learn that “5” is how many fingers there are on one hand, and “10” is how many fingers there are on both hands. This helps your child understand that “10” is more than “5”.

To make counting more interactive and to help them understand one-to-one correspondence, encourage them to touch and move objects such as toys and blocks as they count. But what is one-to-one correspondence?

One-to-one Correspondence

Do bear in mind that at the age of two, your child will be doing rote counting which is about reciting numbers in order by memory. They won’t necessarily understand matching those numbers to quantity. For instance, when there are 4 blocks on the table, they may count up to 10.

Matching numbers to quantity comes with age and children only grasp the concept of [1] one-to-one correspondence when they are around 3 to 4 years old.

One-to-one correspondence is an early maths skill that involves the child's ability to count in ascending order while counting or touching each object, one by one, only once. In other words, if there are 4 blocks on the table, they will touch each block only once and count up to 4 and realise that the last number they counted, which is 4, is the total quantity of the blocks on the table, and not 10.

Children who have mastered one-to-one correspondence will not skip numbers or touch an object more than once.

However, grasping this abstract concept of numbers is challenging for toddlers. To understand number concepts like quantity, one-to-one correspondence, and [2] cardinality, your child needs exposure to number words across various scenarios.

Here’s an overview of the learning stages:

• Quantity recognition—At around 6 months of age, children may start to recognize that certain quantities are more or less than others. For example, they may recognise that the plate with 6 grapes has more grapes than the plate with 2 grapes and choose to eat from the plate that has 6 grapes.
• Rote counting—At around age 2, toddlers often begin to recite number words from memory. They may even know how to recite up to 10. This is similar to how children this age can sing the alphabet song but don’t yet grasp the relationship between a letter they sing and the sound it represents.
• One-to-one correspondence—At about age 3, many children connect number words to specific quantities. Children need to grasp one-to-one correspondence before they can count or understand a quantity larger than three. While they can immediately recognize one, two, or three objects, they have to count to determine larger amounts, identifying each item once and assigning a number to it in sequence. By 36 months, your child may be able to do this for up to five individual objects. Keep in mind that the age children learn one-to-one correspondence and counting varies, so don’t be too concerned if your 3-year-old is still working toward these skills.
• Cardinality—Between the ages 3 and 4, children start to grasp the concept of quantity and understand that the last number counted represents the total amount. Cardinality is the concept that the number assigned to the last object in a group while counting signifies the total quantity of items. For example, if you give them 5 blocks to count, they will understand that after they reach the fifth block, that is the total number of blocks on the table. They will not continue counting to 6,7,8,9 and 10. Your child can be said to truly comprehend a number’s meaning when they can accurately respond to questions that involve specific amounts. For example, if you ask them, “Can you hand me four crayons?” and they do so, they’ve successfully attached the word “four” to its quantity.
• Number Recognition ̶ During this period, many children can also recognize numerals and start to write them. Children learn to associate a numeral with its number word before they link the numeral to the quantity it represents. For instance, they will associate the numeral 3 to its number word “three” and understand that the numeral represents a quantity of three.

Introducing More Maths to your Child

Once your child has understood counting, numerals and quantity, you can introduce more maths to your child by focusing on size comparison like big and little, more and less and also sorting and shapes and simple addition and subtraction. Utilize everyday objects, incorporate math into games and activities, and encourage problem-solving through hands-on experiences.

Here are some simple and fun ways to incorporate maths while you are playing with your child.

Point to Shapes

Talk to your child about the shapes you see around you. Maybe on your walk together, you notice a round stone, a rectangle brick or a square sign. “Look at that orange rectangle brick!” or “That is a big red square sign.” Introducing these basic spatial sense skills – the concepts of shape, size, space and direction – will help your child later on in school when they start doing formal mathematics.

Play a Sorting Game

Recognizing patterns and relationships lays the foundation for learning equations later in life. To introduce these concepts to your toddler in a playful way, try playing a sorting game with objects around your house. “Let’s put the red capsicums in one basket and the green capsicums in the other basket.” You can also lay the objects out in a pattern. “Let’s make a row of capsicums: red, green, red, green.” This way your child can also learn about colours.

Have fun in the Kitchen

Cooking together is a great opportunity for your child to explore measurement and counting. Make sure to give them age-appropriate tasks and to supervise them closely while you create your culinary masterpiece. Talk about how much rice you need for your meal and show them how you measure it out. If you’re making a snack, count out the food items on your plate: “There are one, two, three, four berries in our snack.”

Build a Tower

Stacking objects helps young children learn about estimating size and understanding the relationship between different sized objects. To make a tower together, you could use blocks, empty boxes, empty cartons or other objects you have around the house that will stack well. Talk about how the pieces fit on top of one another and if the tower falls, why that happened. See how high you can go!

Compare and Contrast

Take notice of the sizes of objects you see in comparison to one another. The supermarket is a great place to do this together. “This mango is much bigger than that one.” You can also ask your child to point out which item they think is smaller or larger. This helps your toddler work on building those important spatial sense and measurement skills.

Count it Out

Find some small objects – such as shells or beads – to count together out loud. “Look! We have one, two, three, four, five orange beads.” You can also separate them into groups. “Let’s make three piles of three buttons.” This is a great way to introduce the concepts of numbers and introduce addition and subtraction. “Let’s add two piles of these buttons together. How many buttons do you now have in this big pile?”

Morinaga Chil-kid

Giving your child a solid understanding of basic math concepts, counting and managing numbers from an early age will lay the foundation for their future education. [3] Studies have shown that a child’s number knowledge at the start of kindergarten is one of the [4] best predictors of later academic success ̶ an even better indicator than reading skills or attention span. However, in order to learn, children must be provided with the nutrition that will support their focus and memory and their ability to absorb and retain information.

To support children’s nutritional needs, choose the growing up milk that will serve this function. Morinaga Chil-kid is a nutritionally-optimized formula where just two servings a day will provide children’s daily Recommended Nutrient Intake when complemented with food.

Formulated with a subtle vanilla taste to appeal to children’s taste preference, the new and improved Morinaga Chil-kid features a balanced ratio of [5] 45 essential nutrients such as ARA, DHA, Inositol, Omega 3&6 LCPs, GOS, 5 Nucleotides, Protein, 21 vitamins and minerals, and no sucrose. All of these are designed to support the growth and developmental trajectory of Asian children aged 1 to 7.

Morinaga Chil-kid is a Japanese formulation that is backed by 100 years of R&D and the latest scientific research. Wholly produced from dairy farms to the packing process in the Netherlands, the milk is fully imported and goes through a double inspection process with samples sent to Japan for a second inspection before it is shipped to Malaysia.

[1]Life, M. I. R. (2021, September 17). Learning to Count: One-to-One correspondence — Montessori in real life. Montessori in Real Life. https://www.montessoriinreallife.com/home/2020/6/9/learning-to-count

[2]Cardinality and counting. (n.d.). NCETM. https://www.ncetm.org.uk/classroom-resources/ey-cardinality-and-counting/

[3]Braak, D. T., Lenes, R., Purpura, D. J., Schmitt, S. A., & Størksen, I. (2021). Why do early mathematics skills predict later mathematics and reading achievement? The role of executive function. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 214, 105306. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2021.105306

[4]Children’s early academic and attention skills best predict later school success, according to analysis of Large-Scale studies. (2007, November 12). https://www.apa.org. https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2007/11/school-readiness

[5]Product - Morinaga Milk Formula | Morinaga Malaysia. (n.d.). Morinaga Malaysia. https://morinagamilk.com.my/product.php