What is the Smallest Number – Zero or One?

I was reading a
post
today on Bongo
Mirror’s Reflections and Bongo Mirror was discussing the
fact that a couple years ago she was reading a book that stated that Preschoolers
would defend the fact that 1 (one) is the smallest number. I found that hard
to believe… after all I was sure that my Preschooler, who would be starting
Kindergarten in the fall, knew that Zero (0) was the smallest number. So, I
asked my daughter, “Hannah, I have a question for you… What is the
smallest number?” To my surprise she answered, “One.” I was
truly surprised. After all, I have discussed the number zero with Hannah many
times since she was two while teaching her Preschool
at Home. So, I said to Hannah, “One? What about Zero?”
She then said, “Oh yeah!!” She got it. But, I was very surprised
that Zero wasn’t her first answer. She didn’t defend that one is
the smallest number, however it wasn’t her first choice.

Technorati Tags: numbers, math, kids, preschoolers, preschool,