How to Teach Spanish Counting to Children
The ability to learn a new language seems greatest when children are very young. Within just a year of their birth, children can understand and babble fluently in their native language, but you can help them to learn another just as easily as they did their first. The best place to start is by teaching them counting. These steps can be used for anyone learning Spanish counting, but children will benefit most.
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Instructions
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On one side of an index card, draw a single circle and color it in.
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On the back of that card, write one in both Spanish (uno) and English (one).
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On the next card, draw two circles on the front, and write two in both Spanish (dos) and English (two) on the back.
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Continue to make flash cards up to number 20. In Spanish, numbers past 20 are a combination of the tens base and the ones, and they are easier to learn than the unique numbers through 20. The numbers are: tres (three), cuatro (four), cinco (five), seis (six), siete (seven), ocho (eight), nueve (nine), diez (10), once (11), doce (12), trece (13), catorce (14), quince (15), dieciseis (16), diecisiete (17), dieciochco (18), diecinueve (19), veinte (20).
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Show your child the side of the flash card with the picture of the circle(s) on the front, and at the same time, say in both English and Spanish the number of circles.
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Continue to show the flash cards to your child until you have been through all of them at least once. After a week of telling him the number of circles, have him tell you the number in Spanish. Each time, require that a larger number of flash cards is counted by your child until he can do the entire deck, no matter how it is shuffled.
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Show the flash cards at least once a day, shuffling the order each time you use them. Reinforce the learned numbers by helping the child to count other things in their environment such as counting in Spanish out loud the number of cars, toys, or books seen.
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Tips & Warnings
Have patience. Learning Spanish counting will take time for anyone. There will be some days when your child does not want to cooperate. Just try again later in the day when he is more willing. Be sure to shuffle the flash cards each time you use them. That way, you can be sure that your child really is learning how to count and not just the order of the cards.
