Hello all!  I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and New Year!  Ours was great and busy.  I’ll post the highlights later.  I took a few days to recover from all the festivities.   My first post for the New Year will be to answer Karen’s question that she asked a couple of weeks ago.  I apologize for taking so long to answer.

She asked about teaching a 4 yr. old how to count pass 10.  The hitch is they resist correction.  I think she has my oldest living at her house. LOL First I just want to say he is only 4 so relax, and slow down a bit.  Every child is different and is ready for different things at different times.  Let me give you some personal experience as to what I’m talking about and hopefully it will ease your mind some.

My 14 yr. old son was pretty similar to how you are describing your son.  I did manage to get him to count to 30 by kindergarten but it took a lot of patience.  He didn’t really count past that until the end of kindergarten.  He was very resistant to the concept.  But on a positive note Math is now his best subject.  I didn’t really push it but I would visit it pretty frequently.  I tend to be relaxed and follow their lead.

I also had issues with my 9yr. old son.  He refused to learn his alphabet or anything to do with them.  He had absolutely no interest in learning to read or write.  By the end of  1^st grade is when he finally started reading.  He was a late bloomer with the reading but he caught up.  He has even surpassed grade level now.  One of his favorite things is reading. 

I tell you this to encourage you.  I think they are doing well and enjoying these subjects because I waited until they were ready to learn them.  I didn’t want it to become a bad experience.  My father never learned to read in school.  It was forced on him and he dug in his heels about it.  Learning to read then became a mental block; his brain just wouldn’t absorb it.  He didn’t learn to read until my oldest learned.  I actually taught them together.  Now that was weird, let me tell ya.

Now here are some ideas to try that I’ve used with my kids.  Only introduce one new number at a time.  So if he is on 10 then go to 11 and work on that until he has it.  Then just proceed to the next number.  It will take longer but with fewer new numbers to deal with it will make it easier. 

Just start counting randomly out loud different objects.  Not to him but in his earshot, where he can hear you.  Some examples, if you’re organizing movies, books, or picking up toys just start counting them as you put them away.  Don’t ask him to join just let him hear you counting them.  Have your other kids do it too.  This way he’ll hear and see you and others doing it.  He’ll pick it up on his own. 

Find a short book that has the numbers on every page and sit with him and show him the numbered pages.  Then read the numbers as you point to them.  After awhile encourage him to “read” with you.  Sometimes seeing this is the way everyone does it helps.

Count things he really enjoys.  For my oldest son we used matchbox cars and coins.  He loved seeing how many green, red, and blue cars he had.  I would also give him pennies on occasion to add to his piggy bank.  We would count how many we were adding as he put them in.  I always counted along with him as long as you are doing it the right way, he’ll hear it and catch on.  I would also count the objects and then have him repeat me.  So if I said one then he would say one, then two, and so on.  We did this for quite awhile until I thought he should give it a try on his own.  It is just memorization after all and it takes some longer to memorize things than others. 

Just be patient and practice, practice, practice.  I would limit his counting on his own for awhile.  I would just have him repeat you.  Then after several times have him try on his own.  If he starts getting frustrated or resistant just put it away and move on to another subject.  Then just revisit it at a later time.  I only sit and work with my little people in 10 minute increments.  We do some of the other stuff through out the day just as part of our normal life.  I have found that sitting at the table doing “school” is harder for the little people.  We just do it as we are cleaning, cooking, and doing our normal activities.  Look for ways to make it part of your daily living.  We’ll count how many birds we see on our nature walks, how many cracks in the sidewalk as we walk, or we’ll see who can pick up the most things around the house.  Just work it in as fun stuff.

Well I hope that helps.