Parents help children count their fingers, toys, people at the table, and other small sets of objects. Questions concerning “who has more?” or “are there enough?” are part of the daily lives of children as young as 2 or 3 years of age. Considerable evidence indicates that these children have some under- standing of the concepts of number and counting (Baroody, 1987; Fuson, 1988; Gelman & Gallistel, 1978; Gelman & Meck, 1986; Ginsburg, 1977).

People with number sense are able to understand numbers and use them effectively in everyday living (McIntosh et al., 1997). Good number sense also includes recognizing the relative magnitudes of numbers and establishing referents, or benchmarks, for measures of common objects and situations in their environments.

Helping students to develop such number sense requires appropriate modeling, posing process questions, encouraging thinking about numbers, and in general creating an environment that nurtures number sense.

This activity will assist your child understand the 'magnitude' associated with numbers!

Steps:

1. On the left side of a piece of card stock write the numbers 1-10

2. Have your child place the same amount of stickers next to the corresponding number

3. If he only knows certain numbers, help your child place the right number of stickers next to the numbers he doesn't know