The educator provides opportunities for children to build their fluency with:

• sequences (knowing the counting sequence)
• matching a spoken number name (for example, ​‘three’) with its numeral (3).

Building fluency has a positive impact on children’s mathematical development. As children’s fluency develops, their recall of the sequence becomes faster and more accurate. This enables them to apply their knowledge more readily in other areas and improves their mathematical learning.

Based on the evidence, educators should:

• ensure that all children regularly join in with practising the counting sequence – evidence suggests that this improves children’s mathematical learning
• teach children to match a spoken number name with its numeral.

Educators can help children to build number fluency by:

• Encouraging practice: ensuring that children have opportunities to practise and repeat the counting sequence forwards and backwards
• RepetitionIntentionally repeating and reinforcing a taught concept in different contexts, over time.: intentionallyThe educator acts in a planned, thoughtful and purposeful way. repeating and reinforcing a taught concept in different contexts, over time (for example, at snack time saying ​‘there are four apples’ and pointing to the written numeral 4).

Evidence indicates that it is important for children to have regular, repeated opportunities to hear and say the counting sequence, so that every child learns it off by heart. In the studies we found, educators often prompted children to ​‘have a go’.

Educators could consider using EdTech​‘EdTech’ includes many different approaches and devices, from robots to interactive apps and games, to support children’s learning. to support their delivery of this approach. A small body of evidence indicates that software promoting repetitionIntentionally repeating and reinforcing a taught concept in different contexts, over time. and practice can have a positive impact on children’s basic numerical skills.

Educators might also consider using simple numerical board games, which can also have a positive impact. In the studies we found, playing board games enabled children to:

• hear and say number names
• match a spoken number name with its numeral
• see the written numeral sequence.
  

Evidence indicates that it might be important to use games which present the number sequence in a line (linear number board games, rather than games that arrange numbers in a circle or spiral).

We spoke with educators, who described a range of practices they use while delivering this approach, particularly to prompt children to join in with the counting sequence. These include:

• Choral response: prompting all the children to reply at the same time (for example, an educator uses a puppet and says, ​‘one’, then all the children say together ​‘two’, the puppet says ​‘three’, and the children in chorus say ​‘four’, up to a chosen ​‘stop number’)
• Questioning: prompting children to think, respond, or join in (for example, asking children ​‘can you remember what number comes next?)
• Completion: leaving a blank or a gap for the child to fill in (for example, pausing while reciting the counting sequence so that the child says the next number).