How can you tell they’ve got it: One-to-one counting?

If they’ve got it, you’ll see things like: Point to or touch each object exactly once while saying number names; Do not skip objects or double-count when counting a set; Recognise an error when someone counts an object twice. Or just try it together: If your child is counting a pile of grapes, do they touch or point to each one exactly once as they say each number — without skipping any or counting the same one twice?

Mathematics Counting & Cardinality Ages 4–6

One-to-one counting

Your child can touch each thing once as they count, saying one number for each. They do not skip any or count the same one twice.

In curriculum terms

One-to-one correspondence when counting objects: each object is paired with exactly one number name

Ages are typical, not deadlines — follow your child’s pace. How to help at home →

How to tell they’ve got it

Tick these off as you see them — no test required.

Point to or touch each object exactly once while saying number names
Do not skip objects or double-count when counting a set
Recognise an error when someone counts an object twice

🖨 Print this page to keep the checklist — it prints beautifully.

Try this together

If your child is counting a pile of grapes, do they touch or point to each one exactly once as they say each number — without skipping any or counting the same one twice?

Where this sits on the map

Stuck here? Check the skills it builds on first. Confident? Here’s what it unlocks.

Builds on

Nothing on the map comes before this — it’s a starting point.

One-to-one countingthis skill · ages 4–6

Unlocks

How Many in Total?ages 4–6Cardinality principle builds on one-to-one correspondence — you must count correctly to know the last number tells 'how many'

Counting objects to 20ages 5–6Counting objects to answer 'how many?' requires one-to-one correspondence

Rote counting to 100ages 5–6One-to-one correspondence requires knowing the number name sequence

solid = must come firstdashed = helps

Curriculum alignment

Where this fits in the official school curriculum — our best automated guess, not yet checked by a person.

Show candidate curriculum codes · 3 ACARA · 2 NSW · 3 VIC

Australian Curriculum v9 candidate

AC9MFN05medium confidenceFoundation · Number

represent practical situations involving addition, subtraction and quantification with physical and virtual materials and use counting or subitising strategies

AC9MFN06medium confidenceFoundation · Number

represent practical situations involving equal sharing and grouping with physical and virtual materials and use counting or subitising strategies

AC9M1N03medium confidenceYear 1 · Number

quantify sets of objects, to at least 120, by partitioning collections into equal groups using number knowledge and skip counting

NSW syllabus codes & stages only

MAE-RWN-01low confidenceMathematics K-10 · Early Stage 1

MAE-CSQ-01low confidenceMathematics K-10 · Early Stage 1

Victorian Curriculum 2.0 codes & levels only

VC2MFN02low confidenceMathematics · Foundation · Number strand

VC2M1N03low confidenceMathematics · Level 1 · Number strand

VC2MFN03low confidenceMathematics · Foundation · Number strand

These are candidate alignments generated by semantic matching — machine-suggested and unreviewed (v0.1), not official or verified mappings. For official curriculum content see australiancurriculum.edu.au, curriculum.nsw.edu.au and f10.vcaa.vic.edu.au. Don’t rely on them for registration or compliance purposes.

Nearby on the map

Comparing groups: more or fewerages 4–6 How Many in Total?ages 4–6 One More Each Timeages 4–6 Representing numbers with objectsages 4–6

All Counting & Cardinality skills →