Counting on fingers is an important step in learning mathematics, a new study has shown. Its results indicated that young children who use this method later find it easier to perform mental arithmetic. Counting on fingers to solve simple math problems is a common strategy among young schoolchildren, although some sometimes discourage it. Professor of developmental psychology at the University of Lausanne and lead author of the study, Catherine Thevenot, said: "Our fear as parents or teachers is that the child will remain stuck at this stage, without being able to perform more complex calculations." She added: "In reality, thanks to counting on fingers, children become capable of mastering this process." In the study involving 211 children, those who performed best were the ones who had previously counted on their fingers but later stopped.
