Counting Signs

INTRODUCTION

In most classroom situations, the 'traditional' way for children to display a number is to hold up the corresponding number of fingers.

However, this has some inbuilt problems:

Clearly, it is difficult to count beyond 10;
Children find the fine-motor manipulation awkward, particularly with the ring and little fingers;
Children sometimes use one hand to help straighten out the fingers of the other hand, thus masking the number being created;
Children with limited mobility cannot fully take part;
There is no consistent starting point; some start with the thumb, others start with the forefinger;
Finger displays can be hard to see; small children have small fingers!
Children often count in their lap (or in a half secret way); partially masking the number being created

mathsticks Counting Signs offer children (and adults) a clear, consistent way to signal numbers.

The Counting Sign pattern is based on location rather than physical counting, and offers the following advantages:

The Counting Signs have an inbuilt logic which can easily be extended beyond 10, 20, 30...
Only 8 gestures are needed to show numbers up to 100;
The physical locations make the numbers easy to see and recognise, even over distances;
They involve counting, but also encourage learners to think about 'partitioning' from the very beginning: 7 is seen as 5 + 2. This is what finger counting should do, but children automatically resort to counting to 7 rather than seeing the logical pattern;
The logical patterns also offer a quick and easily recognisable way to count in 5's or 10's;
The Counting Signs only use one hand and do not involve precise motor-skills;
The signs are simple enough for young children to use, but extensive enough for adults too.

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