The teachers had asked the children

to help make an inventory of furniture 

and resources in the room, for the 

school secretary. Karl (4 years, 9

months) decided to count the ten tables. 

He then added "lots of legs" of the 

chairs beneath the tables, finally

writing the number '10' at the top.

The maths: Counting

The Taxonomy: Representing  quantities

that are counted; Representing quantities 

that are NOT counted

Charlotte (4 years, 2 months) and her

friend were playing with lots of coloured

pens. In each hadn't they held lots of 

pens without their tops, excitedly 

making dots and naming them as 

"Hundreds and pounds, hundreds and

pounds"!

The maths: A large quantity

The Taxonomy: Representing quantities 

that are NOT counted

Joe (4 years, 3 months) knows that

spiders have eight legs. On this day 

had been playing with some toy 

spiders in the nursery, and decided

to draw a picture of one. Like the

numerous chair legs Karl had

represented, he has conveyed his

impression of a large quantity.

The maths: A large quantity

The Taxonomy: Representing 

quantities that are NOT counted