Grade prep or foundation can be overwhelming for many reasons. For one thing, it can be stressful to know how to best to support your children with their learning. In this blogpost series, I will identify a key mathematical idea and discuss how you can support your child/children to develop their understanding of this concept in the home. These activities are not alternatives to the work that is set by your child's school. Rather, they are intended to be complimentary activities.
One-to-one correspondence
one-to-one correspondence means that your child can match "one number to one object when counting"(Victorian Education Department, n.d) . This skill matters as it is an important part of counting which supports many other mathematical understandings.
Home activities
To support your children to develop their understanding just allow your children to point at or touch different small collections of household objects while counting them. You could get them to count cans, books, toys, their bears, vegetables, flowers in your garden, pairs of socks etc. At dinner time you could get your kid to count how many plates you need, when cleaning up toys they can count the toys as they are putting them away, or if their are images in a picturebook they can count the pictures (Victorian Education Department, n.d). Wherever possible make counting into a game.
This practice is important for four reasons. Firstly, it gives your children a chance to practice their counting skills. Secondly, it links math skills with real world stuff to support their critical thinking skills. Thirdly, kids are often enthusiastic or excited when they learn to count for the first time. Sharing in their enthusiasm can reinforce positive attitudes towards learning. Fourthly, you can personalise the counting tasks to match your children's interest. For example, if your child loves reading they may enjoy counting their books. Just make it into a game to keep it fun.
Building up, building down
Your child may find this skill to be challenging or easy. Firstly, make sure that the collection is not too big or to small for your child. Start with collections which have between 6-20 items. If this is too easy, move to larger collections. If It is too hard, move to smaller collections. If your child is really struggling, demonstrate how you would count the objects, then do it together with your child, then get them to try it by themselves. Praise and encourage them for trying their personal best.
if it is easy for them, move to larger collections. Moreover, move to contexts outside the home where they can not touch each item in the collection. For example, you could do a number walk where you count things while going on a walk with your kid. If there were 5 ducks in a pond they would need to point to count them.
Conclusion
the simplest things can have the greatest impact on your child's learning. By practising simple skills in fun ways you can support your children to grow and develop.
Reference list
Victorian Education Department. (N.D). Mathematics and numeracy at home. Vic.gov.au. https://www.vic.gov.au/mathematics-and-numeracy-home. Accessed 11/03/2026