Writing the numerals 0 to 10

When you reach for it

A numeral is the written mark for a number, like 7, and a child who can write 0 through 10 can record a count so that someone else can read it later. Reach for this once the child knows the names and can match each numeral to an amount; here the job is the hand’s: forming each numeral the same way every time, starting at the top, facing the right way, and writing 10 as a 1 followed by a 0.

Each day below takes about ten to fifteen minutes. Build or trace each numeral big with the whole arm first, then small with a pencil. Keep a written strip of 0 to 10 in view as the model the whole time.

Day 1: Numerals made of straight lines

You need: a handful of craft sticks, and a shallow tray with a thin layer of salt.

Start with 1, 4 and 7, because they use only straight lines. Lay sticks on the table to build each one, and count the sticks aloud as you place them. Then the child builds it beside yours.

Next, trace the numeral in the salt tray with one finger. Say the path while moving: for 7, “across the top, then slant down”; for 4, “down and across, lift, then straight down.” Point out that every numeral starts at the top. Shake the tray to erase and go again. If a numeral comes out facing the wrong way, place the model strip next to it and trace it together.

Practice.

1. Build 1 with sticks. How many sticks? Answer: 1.
2. Build 7 with sticks. How many sticks? Answer: 2, one across the top and one slanting down.
3. Build 4 with sticks. How many sticks? Answer: 3.
4. Trace 7 in the salt. Where does your finger start? Answer: at the top left, moving across.
5. Which of 1, 4 and 7 makes you lift your finger partway? Answer: 4. It takes two strokes; 7 uses two sticks but only one stroke, since the finger turns the corner without lifting.

Day 2: Round numerals

You need: playdough, rolled into long snakes, and a set of numeral cards from 0 to 10.

Roll a snake and bend it into 0 while the child watches: start at the top, go around to the left, and close it where you began. Then make 6 (“down and around into a loop at the bottom”), 9 (“a loop at the top, then straight down”) and 8 (“start at the top, curve left, cross in the middle, go around the bottom, and come back up to the top”). The child makes each one, then traces it with a finger in the air, big.

Practice.

1. Make 0 from a snake. Where do the two ends meet? Answer: at the top, where it started.
2. Which numeral is a curved line with a loop at the bottom? Answer: 6.
3. Which numeral is a loop at the top with a straight line down? Answer: 9.
4. Turn the 6 card upside down. What does it look like now? Answer: 9. That is why the loop’s place matters: it is the only difference between the two.
5. How many loops does 8 have? Answer: 2, one on top of the other.

Day 3: Curves and lines together, and 10

You need: a little shaving cream spread on a table (or a dry-erase board), and paper strips.

The last four mix curves and lines. Write each one large in the shaving cream with a finger, saying the path: 2 is “around the top, slant down, flat along the bottom”; 3 is “two bumps”; 5 is “down, around the belly, lift, then the flat hat on top.” Wipe and repeat.

Then show 10. Ask, “What two numerals do you see?” Ten is the first number that needs two numerals: a 1 and then a 0 just to its right, close together. Write it on a strip, then let the child write one under yours.

Practice.

1. Write 2. How does it end? Answer: with a flat line along the bottom, moving to the right.
2. Write 3. Which way do its bumps open? Answer: both open to the left.
3. How many strokes does 5 take? Answer: 2: the line and belly first, then the hat.
4. Write 10. Which numeral comes first, on the left? Answer: 1, then 0 beside it.
5. Which numerals so far use only straight lines? Answer: 1, 4 and 7, from Day 1.

Day 4: Count it, then write it

You need: four paper plates, a bag of dry pasta pieces, sticky notes and a pencil.

Put some pasta on each plate, leaving one plate empty. The child counts a plate, writes the number on a sticky note, and sticks it on the plate’s rim. Ask, “What did you write? Why?” so the child says the count and points to the written numeral. For the empty plate, ask, “How many pieces are here?” None, and the numeral for none is 0. If a plate holds 10, the note needs two numerals, just like Day 3.

At the end, have the child read every note back while you check the plate together. A note someone else can read is the whole point of writing a number down.

Practice. For each plate, count the pasta and write the number.

1. Plate A. Answer: 6.
2. Plate B. Answer: 10, written as a 1 and then a 0.
3. Plate C. Answer: 0, because the plate is empty.
4. Plate D. Answer: 8.
5. Take 2 pieces off Plate B and count again. What do you write now? Answer: 8, the same numeral as Plate D.

Exercises

Give the child a pencil and a blank paper. Point to each group in the check figure.

1. Group A. Count the triangles and write how many.
2. Group B. Count the triangles and write how many.

Where this goes next

Writing 10 as a 1 and a 0 is the doorway to Tens and ones, where the 1 in 10 turns out to mean one ten. The same ten numerals then build every larger number in Counting, reading and writing numbers to 120. Writing the count of a group also lets a child record the answer when counting a set and, later, write the result of joining two groups.