Kids learn language the best through genuine interaction, especially if that interaction is fun! My son picks up on terms we use during play without any effort (he immediately learns them!) while teaching him terms related to brushing his teeth, for example, takes a little more effort.
We’ve learned our numbers in various ways. One of them being TV shows and music (I’ll post some suggestions below). The second being through little games like hide and go seek.
Hide and Go Seek
We all know how to play hide and go seek. This is the #1 way, in my opinion, to get your child to actually speak in Portuguese. For non-fluent speakers like my self, I posted some common words and phrases used during play below to get your started.
- Let’s play hide and seek. / Vamos brincar de esconde-esconde.
- I’ll count first. / Eu vou contar primeiro.
- Run and hide! / Corre, se esconde!
- Ready or not, here I come! / Pronto, lá vou eu!
- I found you! / Encontrei você!
- It’s your turn. / É sua vez de contar.
- Um
- Dois
- Três
- Quatro
- Cinco
- Seis
- Sete
- Oito
- Nove
- dez
- Onze
- Doze
- Treze
- Quatorze
- Quinze
- Dezesseis
- Dezessete
- Dezoito
- Dezenove
- Vinte
Montessori Printables and Activities
Another way I teach numbers is through Montessori activities like 3-part cards. The image above is an example of how this helps build word recognition for younger kids. The combined card (on the right) is used as a guide and the child can sift through the cards (on the left) and find the matching word form and standard form cards. For older kids, they simply do without the combined card and match the standard form and word form by reading. The 3-part cards are true Montessori, while the matching mats are Montessori inspired.
- 1-100 Montessori 3-part cards (Portuguese)
- 1-100 Montessori 3-part cards (English) – coming soon
- 1-100 Matching mats (Portuguese)
- 1-100 Matching mats (English)
We also use these cards to do counting exercises.
Media suggestions
I personally dislike my son watching TV but he really learns a good amount from TV shows. Below, I have included my recommendations, including a song + lyrics suggestions (Mariana).
1-10
Find the lyrics here.
1-20
Note: The “One-little-two-little-three-little-Indians” song is racist. I would skip it. You will find the Portuguese version everywhere. Here is a short list of other racist nursery rhymes to stay away from. Lessons from Turtle Island is a great book that talks about the stereotypes and racism against Native Americans in early childhood classrooms (and how to fix it).
Ok friends, that’s it for today. This is how I got my son to learn his numbers. We are still working on learning numbers over 20…mostly becuase I have not learned them myself!
Do you have any suggestions! Post them in the comment section!