To help her 3-year-old daughter learn her home telephone number, Sessalie Shapley wrote a song using the numbers. She taught her three children how to spell their names that way, so why not the phone number? “If they get lost, they have a way to get hold of their parents,” the Bedford mother said. “It gives them another method of identification.”

During the summer months, as more children are playing outside, experts say children need to know their telephone numbers in case they get separated from their families or friends.

Experts and parents agree that teaching children their phone numbers is important. But it takes different methods for different children, and not all children will be able to memorize the numbers at the same age.

Cathie Mollenhoff, a pre-kindergarten teacher at St. Vincent’s Cathedral School in Bedford, said she starts teaching her students their telephone numbers during the second semester, when most of the children are 4, going on 5. Most learn the area code fairly quickly. To help them learn the rest, her students are often identified by their phone numbers. When she calls on a student, she might call on them by their number.

“Every year, out of 16 kids, we’ve maybe had two or three who haven’t known their number by the time they exit our classroom,” said Mollenhoff, who has taught at St. Vincent’s for 20 years.

Margaret Puckett, a retired professor of education at the University of North Texas, said parents shouldn’t be concerned if their 4-year-olds are struggling to memorize the 10-digit numbers. A typical 5-year-old can remember about five digits.

Beyond that, they can get confused, particularly if they are under stress or frightened. The end of kindergarten is a more appropriate time to expect children to have their numbers and addresses down pat.

“We put too much on our kids, expect them to know too much, too soon,” Puckett said.

“Remember, a 4-year-old is only 48 months old.”

(Source: STAR-TELEGRAM)