Case study: What's my number?

Claire attends Cottingley Primary School nursery in Leeds five mornings a week. She is three years old and enjoys working in areas of provision such as the sand and water corner, which particularly help to develop mathematical learning. Claire uses number names in her play and is able to say a sequence of numbers between one and ten in the correct order. She is curious about number signs and labels around nursery and often comments on them -she frequently points out '3' to staff and other children saying, 'That's me!' Claire is showing an increasing awareness of one-to-one correspondence in her play, sharing out toys or pieces of play dough so that each child in the group has one. At home Claire enjoys counting her toys and pictures in books at bedtime, pointing with her mother to objects or illustrations as she says numbers. Her mother says that she is interested in numbers which she sees in the environment and is beginning to try to reproduce them on paper. She also chants numbers in sequence as she climbs the stairs at home and in shopping centres.