Counter and Producer (10+)
Sub Trajectory: Object

When operating at the Counter and Producer (10+) developmental level, the child:

Counts and counts out objects accurately to 10, then beyond (to about 30 ). Has explicit understanding of cardinality (how numbers tell how many). Keeps track of objects that have and have not been counted, even in different arrangements. Writes or draws to represent 1 to 10 (then 20, then 30).

Gives next number (usually to 20s or 30s). Separates the decade and the ones part of a number word and begins to relate each part of a number word/numeral to the quantity to which it refers.

Recognizes errors in others' counting and can eliminate most errors in own counting (point-object) if asked to try hard.

Activities

You may see this:

Other Examples:

A child counts a scattered group of 19 chips, keeping track by moving each one as the next is counted.

Help your student become a(n) Counter and Producer (10+)

These activities not only ask children to count sets and produce sets of larger numbers, they also teach strategies for keeping track of which items have been counted (i.e., keep 1-to-1 correspondence) in unorganized collections. Children learn to move the objects (if possible) or use spatial skills and planning (e.g., I'll move from the top to the bottom and left to right).

Practice-based Research: Producing a set number of items is typically more difficult than counting a collection of items. Children have to keep the target number in mind at all times and stop themselves when they reach it and with larger numbers, there are more demands on their working memories.

The counting skill of keeping track of unordered items is a special type of one-to-one correspondence task. For children who are unable to keep track, first suggest they count slowly and carefully; ask them to count each item exactly once, touching items as they count. Next, model strategies and/or help children invent strategies that work for them, such as moving items to a new location as they are counted; counting top to bottom or left to right (“reading order”); or, for circular arrangements, counting at a set place by starting with a certain color, shape, or other criterion.