Writing Numbers from 1-10 for Kids | How to Write Numbers | Learning the English Numbers

In this lesson, we're going to look at number formation. We're really going to think about how to teach your child to form those numbers correctly. Now that you feel that your child is secure with recognising those numbers, you want to move on to the step of actually getting them to formally be able to record them in order to write them. So we're going to think about how to form those numbers correctly from the beginning. It's very, very important that your child does form their numbers correctly from the because from experience as a teacher, I have seen that children generally who form their numbers and letters incorrectly from the beginning tend to do so throughout their school life. So what we're going to look at is basic how to talk through number formation, and then I'll explore some different ways that are slightly more interactive to get your child thinking about number formation. So we're going to start basically, I'm just going to talk you through each number and what I say to the children in my classroom as we're trying to form them. If you give your child something to talk through, it makes it easier for them to remember, and it also gives them something to focus on as they're actually writing. So with number one, I always tell them this is the easiest one. You start at the top and go straight down. So we start at the top. I'm actually going to use a different colour here. I'm going to start at the top and go right down. One is the simplest one, and most children will be able to manage that straight away. Number two is obviously one of the more challenging ones, but we always talk about number two is like a little duck. So we do the little duck's head, and then we'll do the little duck's tail. So we talk through it again, round like the little duck's head, and his little tail is sticking out. And again, just keep talking that through with your child, round like the little duck's head, and the little tail sticking out. Number three, we talk about that being our bumpy number. So we talk about round with a bump and another bump, round with a bump and another bump. Number four, again, is one that children tend to manage quite quickly and quite simply. We talk about going down, across, we lift our pencil, and we give him a little tail. Down, across, lift our pencil, and give him a little tail. Number five, we always talk about as a little man, and we always say, down with his little tummy, and then put his hat on. Down with his little tummy, then put his hat on. Number six, again, not so difficult, but we do like to give them a little story just to remember. And I always say, down on a roller coaster and back round. Down on the roller coaster and back round. Number seven, across and down. It's as simple as that. Across and down. Now, number eight will be the most challenging number, probably, for your child. Because, again, they tend to want to draw an eight as opposed to write it. So they will tend to do this. Which is fine, it looks like an eight, but we really want to get that number formation correct from the beginning. So we don't really want them drawing the numbers, we want them writing. So we have to give them something that's going to help them. And we always talk, again, about eight being that wiggly shape. It's very wiggly, and we want to make sure that it's going in the right direction. So we talk about wiggly, wiggly, wiggly, wiggly. And again, I would give them that four steps. Wiggly, wiggly, wiggly, wiggly. Nine is a little man popping up. So we always say, draw his little head, and there's his legs. Draw his little head, and there's his legs. And of course, 10 is simple because we've got our number one, which we already know what to do. Start at the top and go straight down. And then, most children are perfect at zeros already. And they've probably already explored the letter O. And they're generally pretty good at drawing circles. So we just say, round in a big circle, but making sure they are going to the left, not the right. Now, I want to just talk about different activities you will do before maybe even starting this letter formation. Now that you've got secure in your mind how to actually form the letters and how to talk it through with your child, you want to actually start that journey. So I would start very, very simply with actually tracing the numbers in the air. And we use this magic finger that we talk about, and we just trace the number in the air first. I wouldn't even get my child to start writing on anything until they're happy to be able to trace it in the air. So again, you just go through the numbers, talking through what we've just said, but getting your child to use their magic finger to write the number in the air. So what we will say is, right, we're going to look at the number one. Right, get your little magic fingers at the ready. And we're going to start at the top and straight down. Let's do it again. At the top, straight down. Then you'll move on to the number two. And we'll say, remember, we talked about number two. And number two is like a little duck swimming in the water. And we're going to talk about his little tail and his little head. And we're going to start at the top. And we're going to draw his little head down with his little sticky-eyed tail. And that's what we're going to do. And you just go through each of the numbers, making sure that your child is able to trace them in the air. So what you might want to do is actually start to think about getting your child to think about the shapes of those numbers and actually start to feel the shapes of those numbers. So we've talked about actually what you need to say to your child to talk through the numbers. And we've talked about actually tracing it in the air. But now we want to think about a bit more formal tracing. So a really good resource and something, again, that's very cheap and easy to get is sandpaper. And all you need to do is just cut the numbers out of sandpaper and allow your child to trace over the numbers with their fingers. In that way, they can actually feel the numbers. And they can feel the shape. And they can start to practice that shape with their magic finger. But they can feel it as they go along. You can also use a range of different materials, like fluffy materials and smooth materials, and make a little game out of it, where the children have to actually maybe put a little blindfold on, close their eyes, and they have to trace the number and decide what number it is. Once you've done that, you might want to think then about starting to actually get your child to begin to start that letter formation. Now, I wouldn't rush to get pen and paper just yet. I would try to make it, again, very interactive and very fun. And a really good way of doing this is to allow your child to explore using or writing the numbers using a range of different media. So I would start with maybe something very simple, like allowing them to paint the numbers, or using different types of media, like crayons, colouring pencils, felt tips, or even maybe something really fun, like allowing them to write the numbers with shaving foam, write the numbers with sprayed cream, and allowing them just to have a little bit of fun with transferring that skill of actually being able to trace it in the air to actually starting to make that letter formation a wee bit more formal. Once you feel that you've had a bit of fun and your child is confident and secure, now you want to start introducing the pen and paper. And the first step to doing that is to, you actually provide the child with the number to trace over. Now, a really good thing to have is a yellow pen, a felt tip pen, or a colouring pencil will do. And just for you to prepare the numbers, you write the numbers for them, and then allow them to trace over. Again, encouraging them to start in the right place, to finish in the right place, to actually make sure that they're forming those letters correctly. And then from that, you can then start to move on and allow your child to actually start trying to have a go themselves. But really, the most important thing I can say about letter formation is first of all, really making sure that your child has grasped how to form their numbers. Secondly, allowing them to really make sure that they have a go and they have a bit of fun with it. And actually making sure that they're forming their letters correctly. But really, the most important thing I can say is just practice, practice and practice.