Counting with beads

In June 2022, a small group of children preparing for madrasah entrance practised counting with red counters and yellow number pegs. This was part of our Madrasah Entrance Preparation programme. Three children shared one small table. The counters came out of a clear plastic bag, and the yellow pegs, each shaped like a little bird, waited in a box at the side.

How it worked

Each child picked a peg, read the number on it and laid out that many counters beside it. Some pegs had the number as a word, others as a numeral. At the peg marked "SIX", one child lined up six counters in a row and pointed along it.

Another child worked beside the peg marked 4.

It is a simple activity. The children move real things with their hands, and they can check an answer by counting again.

Madrasah Preparation runs weekly, on a Saturday or a Sunday, for three to four hours depending on the age group.

Telling things apart

Counting is only the start. In the same sessions children learn to tell things apart by colour, by shape and in other ways. Sorting a mixed pile into reds and blues, or circles and squares, asks a child to look closely and compare, and reading letters and numbers needs the same careful looking.

Trying it at home

You need very little: a handful of small things, such as buttons or dried beans, and some numbers written on pegs or scraps of paper. Let your child choose a number, say it out loud and lay out that many. Then swap roles: you lay out a few, and your child finds the number that matches. Keep the numbers small at first, and let your child count out loud while touching each one.