Cards and Counters

Description

Cards and Counters marks a child’s first formal look at the structure hidden inside each number: whether it divides evenly into pairs, or always leaves one counter standing alone. The material pairs a set of printed numeral cards, one to ten, with an equal number of small, identical counters.

Working methodically from one to ten, the child places each numeral card in sequence, then lays the matching number of counters beneath it in two neat columns, discovering as they go which numbers resolve into complete pairs and which leave a single counter at the bottom of the column. This simple, visual arrangement gives the child a concrete, self-evident introduction to odd and even numbers, long before the terms themselves are taught.

Beyond odd and even, the repeated counting and card-matching reinforces numeral recognition and one-to-one correspondence, giving the child one more confident foothold in the sequence of numbers from one to ten.