Counting

[Mahre]

My DS will be 4 in Feb. and is not counting at all. He understands that numbers represent a quantity. He repeats "one is none" and "eight, nine" over and over to count. He understands that one is a low quantity and 9 is a high quantity. Every one tells me it is to early for him to be counting, he is to young, but I don't think that is the case. He is developmentally delayed, but I didn't think he was cognitively delayed. He seems very smart.

What is the average age for a child to start counting? Are there other 3 1/2 years olds on this forum that are not counting at all?

[Aufilia]

A great resource for mile stones is the PBS Parents Child Development Tracker, which breaks down skills by age and skillset.

According to the "Math" section for the 3-year-old age-group:

While some children are still learning how to verbally count by ones in the correct order up to "three," the average child can count up to "five." Some three-year-olds will also be able to verbally count by ones up to "ten," and possibly beyond, but not necessarily in the correct order. A very few children will be able to use the "teen" counting pattern to count up to "twenty."

(There are a bunch of other skillsets in the "Math" section to consider, like enumerating objects and comparing numbers, etc.)