The Preschooler

Ordinal Numbers

Putting pictures or events of a story in order is a skill that takes a bit of practice for children to completely grasp.  Usually, kids do not have difficulty understanding the progression of events, but rather, they may not have already memorized the names for the numbers used to put those events in order. 

Once your child has mastered the numbers from one through ten, using the appropriate vocabulary in your everyday conversation is probably the best way to practice using ordinal numbers with your child.  For example, when passing out items to family members, say the words, “Betsy is first.  John is second.  Dad is third.  Mom is fourth.” 

Another opportunity to use ordinal numbers is when reading stories with your child.  Instead of always asking your child to tell you what happened first, next, and last, replace those ordering words with ordinal numbers.  Ask your child to recall the events that occurred first, second, and third.

Try replacing ordinal numbers any time you would normally use natural numbers (i.e. 0, 1, 2, 3, 4…) to count.  In our family, we switched from counting the stairs as, “One, two, three…” to “First, second, third…”.  You can then play a game where you ask your child to stop on the third step or the eight step, for example.  (Be sure your child starts at the bottom each time until they have a fairly good understanding or it may become confusing to find the “third” step is different when counting from the top than it is when counting from the bottom.)

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Written by Laura on November 21, 2011