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Counting Past Twenty

The twenties tell you the truth

Play this lessonNarrated out loud. No account, works offline.

Also available in Spanish. The app stops after two lessons a day and suggests something to do away from the screen.

What it teaches

These are the lines the lesson comes back to, and the ones a child actually remembers afterwards.

Big part first. Then the little part.

There is no twenty-ten.

You already know the thirties.

One rule got you ninety numbers.

How it starts

Last time we did the teens, and they were hard, because eleven and twelve are nonsense and thirteen is pretending to be a three. This one is the opposite. From twenty on, the numbers stop cheating and start telling you the truth. By the end of five minutes you are going to be able to count much further than you think, and I will not have taught you most of it.

How the lesson goes

Every ten works the same way

  1. Twenty-nine, then thirty
  2. Thirty-nine, then forty
  3. Forty-nine, then fifty

The question at the end

What comes after thirty-nine?

For the grown-up

Every lesson ends by handing the child something to do off the screen, and telling you what was taught so you can use the same words.

Try this today: Count out loud from twenty-five to forty-one. Say it slowly, and notice the moment where twenty-nine turns into thirty.

Then: Ask them for a number in the fifties, then start there and keep going as far as you can.

More in Math

The whole library is free

Twenty-four narrated lessons for ages 4 to 9, in English and Spanish. No account, no sign-up, no ads, and nothing your child does in the app ever leaves the device — you can check that yourself with the network tab open. Open the lessons.