The Effects of Counting Ability on Young Children’s Mathematical Ability and Mathematical Learning Potential

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of counting ability on young children's mathematical ability and mathematical learning potential. The subjects in this study were 75 young children of 4 & 5 years old who attended kindergartens and child care center in the city of B. They were evaluated in terms of counting ability, mathematical ability and mathematical learning potential(training and transfer) and the correlation between sub-factors and their relative influence on the partipants ’ mathematical ability was then analyzed. The findings of the study were as follows： First, there was a close correlation between the sub-factors of counting and those of mathematical ability. As a result of checking the relative influence of the sub-factors of counting on mathematical ability, reverse counting was revealed to have the largest impact on total mathematical ability scores and each sub-factors including algebra, number and calculation, geometry and measurement. Second, the results revealed a strong correlation between counting ability and mathematical learning ability. Korean J. of Child Studie