Counting collections are an awesome way to give kids lots of extra accounting practice. And as they get going through the year, they can really work on showcasing how they are counting, how they’re organizing their counters. It’s a great way to get them to work on explaining their thinking.
~ Zeba from Episode 113 of The Kindergarten Cafe Podcast
Episode Summary
This week, I’m answering two real questions from teachers like you, all about math in kindergarten.
If you’ve been wondering how to organize counting collections without drowning in buttons and cubes… or what students should realistically be able to count and write by December… you’re in the right place.
In this episode I share:
- How I organize and rotate counting collections (without spending a fortune)
- Why I group collections into 0–10, 10–20, and 20–100
- Tips for choosing the right containers and labeling systems
- What realistic number writing and counting should look like in December vs. February
- When to worry about number skills and what’s totally developmentally normal
- Simple strategies to boost number sense + help kids count and organize objects
Resources:
Connect with Zeba:
- Instagram – @kindergartencafe
- Facebook – @kindergartencafe
- Website – www.kindergartencafe.org
- Tik Tok – @kindergartencafe
Read the Transcript
[0:00] Hey, teacher friends, it’s Zeba from Kindergarten Cafe, and today I have not one, but two math questions from teachers like you, from listeners, and I’m really excited about getting these questions from teachers because I want to help you with problems that you’re having. I know what problems you might be having. I know issues that I’m having or that I’m seeing or what I’m seeing from teachers on social media or whatever in Facebook groups. But to actually hear from you directly is, one, very humbling because it means you really trust my opinion, which I’m so honored by. And two, I can’t wait to actually use these questions, these case studies to help teachers with problems that teachers are actually having. So let’s get into it and if you have questions about anything concerns problems sticky points whatever anything reach out send me an email send me an instagram dm send me a voice memo you could even be featured on the podcast and i would love to use it to base a future podcast episode all right let’s jump into today’s questions.
[1:27] You’re listening to the Kindergarten Cafe podcast, where kindergarten teachers come to learn classroom-tested tips and tricks and teaching ideas they can use in their classroom right away. I’m Zeba, creator and founder of Kindergarten Cafe, and I help kindergarten teachers with everything they need from arrival to dismissal in order to save time, work smarter, not harder, and support students with engaging and purposeful lessons. I’m here to cheer you on through your successes and breakthroughs and offer support and resources so you never have to feel stuck or alone. Ready to start saving time and reducing your stress all while using effective and purposeful lessons that students love? Let’s get started!
[2:16] So the first question that I got was, hi Zeba, do you do counting collections in your classroom? We’ve always done regular counting, but now our school wants to implement counting collections. I get why it’s great for the kids. It makes total sense, but I’m totally lost on the teacher side. How do you organize all the materials? How do you keep the bag straight? I love the idea, but I’m drowning in cubes and buttons already. Awesome. So let’s talk about counting collections. Yes, they are really great for kids to practice counting and repeatedly practice counting. It’s super easy to differentiate because you can do different size counting collections.
[2:52] And in terms of like where do you get the materials, you can really use anything that you can find in the classroom, different counters. You can go take rocks or acorns from outside. You can collect different recycled things marker caps like whatever you whatever you can find you can use I’ve gotten different counters over the years and so I just pull a little from each collection a little from each container of like the counters like all these little animals okay so then I take a bunch of little animals and just put them in one counting collection so I didn’t have to go out and buy things for my counting collection. Now, how do I organize these? So I have my counting collections organized in sets by the amount, and I’ve grouped them in amounts 0 to 10, 10 to 20, and 20 to 100, because those are the sort of frames that I’m progressing with my students throughout the year. So that’s why I did it like that, like the developmental framework of we want them to be able to count to 10. Okay, now we want them to be able to count to 20. And then after 20, we want them to be able to count above that. So that’s why I have it ranged like that. Each.
[4:07] Range of counting collections has a color and a shape associated with it. So 0 to 10 is like a green, let’s see if I remember the top of my head, a green circle. 10 to 20 is a blue square and 20 to 100 is a purple triangle. And I’ve organized these in different containers, different size containers, different baggies. Honestly, Ziploc bags work fine. You don’t have to go above and beyond. But I would start collecting like different containers from takeout or like cooking. I like to do like HelloFresh. Sometimes they send things in like different containers. Like I just collected a bunch and I would just draw the color and shape on top of it or use a plastic bag, whatever.
[4:51] And then I store them in one big bin and it’s easy to find because they’re clearly labeled. Okay, these are the 10 to 20 counting collections. And so when I first put out the counting collections, I have four bins, one for each table. And I just put in a random assortment of, for when I start the year, I do 1 to 10. Then later on, I add in some 10 to 20s. And then I’ll do mostly 10 to 20s. And I’ll add in some 20 to 100, like that kind of thing. I just do a random assortment and the bins rotate through the table so they’re not on the same table each time and that’s how I organize it. It’s worked really well for me so far but I do think it’s key to have some kind of labeling system for the range of amount for the range of the amounts so that and I do recommend 0 to 10, 10 to 20 and 20 to 100 as the amounts.
[5:53] The other thing about like the containers is especially 0 to 10, the things that you’re counting should, in theory, be on the bigger side because you really want kids to be able to touch and move them and be able to really see them. As they obviously get into higher numbers, you’re going to be choosing objects that are much smaller, mostly because it’s easier to store. So like beads or tiny little blocks. I’m trying to think what else I have in like the 20 to 100 range. Oh, a lot of those like mini erasers from like Target, Dollar Spot are great. I’ve gotten some of those but I use that for like the 10 to 20 range or 0 to 10 but for 2100 definitely beads are a great size to use and you can get a bunch of different ones like that but just keep that in mind when you’re picking your containers or whatever that the things you pick for 0 to 10 are going to be bigger than 20 to 100 but you’re obviously going to have more of those And when I say 20 to 100.
[6:51] Mostly I do like 20 to 40, right? Occasionally I’ll do something higher and it’s definitely more of a challenge depending on if I have that amount of something, but I’m mostly talking 20 to 40, just so we’re clear. So I hope that answers your question on how to organize counting collections. Counting collections are an awesome way to give kids lots of extra counting practice. And as they get going through the year, they can really work on showcasing how they’re counting, how they’re organizing their counters. It’s a great way to get them to work on explaining their thinking. But overall, it’s definitely a good way to practice counting in number sense. So highly recommend. And it doesn’t have to be overwhelming to organize. You can do it. Just stick to those ranges with some kind of key and you should be good to.
[7:44] The next question that I got was about math assessments, and they wrote, we just finished our trimester two testing, and I’m wondering what students should realistically be able to count and write to by this point. Our math program gives us assessments, but it doesn’t always match where my students actually are. I want to make sure I’m setting the right expectations. So in terms of where they should be right now at this time of year, it depends on your math program in terms of what you’ve taught them in terms of like math content. But what I’m looking for when I’m looking at my students around this time of year, around December, is can they count to 21? Can they go beyond that 20 into the next round of into the next decade of numbers? Right? Do they know the pattern that it goes to 21? That’s kind of key. That’s our goal in terms of, as a district, what we’re looking for. But I think it is really, really helpful information to know, like, can they count to 21?
[8:46] Ideally, they would know their teen numbers by now. It’s not the biggest red flag if they don’t know them solidly but to me that is like my main focus at this time of year is can they get the numbers up to 20 in terms of counting do they know the order of the numbers orally can they say the order can they say the rote sequence but also can they count that many objects without losing track right do they have a system to keep track of their counting. So that’s my main thing. Writing numbers, I mean, it’s totally okay if they’re writing a teen number and one number, like if they’re writing 12 and they write 21. That’s pretty typical. That’s fine. I’m not too concerned about that. But ideally, I’d want them to be able to recognize and write the numbers up to 20 as well as counting up to 20. But again, where I would be like super concerned is if they can’t.
[9:41] Identify numbers to 10 if they can’t count to 10 or to 12 even like then I’m starting to get pretty concerned if they can do 12 then but they can’t do 21 okay like I definitely want to work with them in small groups but like maybe they just need extra practice I’m definitely going to keep an eye on them I’m going to pull them for frequent small groups but I’m not crazy concerned about them at this point in the year. If we get to February, and they can’t count to 20, then I’m getting even more concerned, right? Because by February, we’re adding in a lot more expectations, we’re starting to add in some addition, subtraction, number decomposition, things like that. Right now, in mid-December, I also want to think about, like, do they understand the number order of up to 20. Like if I say I have 11 and I add one more, how many do I have? I’d want them to know that I have 12 right away without having to think about it because I want that solid understanding of zero to 20.
[10:50] But like I said, if they don’t quite have it yet with those T numbers, it’s not a huge red flag at this point. But by February, then I’m definitely getting more concerned. So if they don’t have it quite yet, those T numbers, but they can do, oh, if I have eight and I add one more, I know it’s nine. Great. Like if they can’t do it up to 10, we’re getting very concerned. February, if they’re not doing it by about 20, then we’re getting concerned, right? Those numbers in between, if they don’t have a solid understanding right now, don’t panic.
[11:21] But definitely make sure to focus on them for some small group work or if you’re doing centers, pull them for a quick second, sit next to them for a quick second and have them practice counting to 20 with you, have them practice counting forwards and backwards. I do have a lot of awesome math resources to help you if you are seeing kids are not quite where they should be. I have a math workshop, a free recorded math workshop, as well as a bunch of math podcast episodes. So just message me math help and I will send you the resources or respond to an email or send me an email, whatever. Just say math help and I will send you the resources. In fact, if you go to kindergartencafe.org slash math, you can get all my resources in one place. You can get my podcast, my blog posts, my resources all in one place.
[12:11] Look at that. As well as you can sign up for the free recorded workshop. So I hope this episode has helped. I hope it was just quick to the point in answering your questions. And I’m really excited to do more of these. So like I said, reach out with your questions and you can be featured on the podcast. Thanks so much for listening. We’ll see you in the next episode.
[12:39] Thanks so much for listening to the Kindergarten Cafe Podcast. Be sure to check out the show notes for more information and resources, or just head straight to kindergartencafe.org for all the goodies. If you liked this episode, the best ways to show your support are to subscribe, leave a review, or send it to a friend. I’ll be back next week with even more kindergarten tips. See you then.