EnglishGrade 2ages 7–8
1️⃣ one two three
Three and tree sound almost identical to a young ear, and the only real difference is that th sound at the start — which is exactly the detail worth practicing on its own.
Try this lesson freeNo card needed. The first lesson is free.
Download on the App StoreWhat your child learns
- one means 1.
- two means 2.
- three means 3 — it starts with th, not tree.
- The word and the number go together.
The mistake most kids make here
Hearing three as tree.
Try one question
There are 2 apples. Which word?
2
- one
- two
- three
Answer
two — That's it. 2 = two. one is 1. three is 3.
How Maya teaches it
Your child tells Maya what they did in class. She teaches this topic at her desk, asks questions with tappable answers, and when the answer is wrong she explains why that answer was tempting instead of saying “try again”. She remembers what did not land and comes back to it.
Your child has it when they can: Count one, two, three on three things.
How to help at home
One, two, and three are the basic counting words, and three is the one that gets confused most often because 'three' and 'tree' sound so close.
The difference is the very first sound: three starts with a th sound (tongue between the teeth), while tree starts with a tr sound. Practice saying just that first sound slowly a few times.
Count real objects together — 'one apple, two apples, three apples' — and pay extra attention to the word three each time it comes up, so the number and the sound get linked.
A good sign they've got it: they can count three objects out loud and say 'three' clearly, without it slipping into 'tree.'
Questions parents ask
- Why does my child say tree instead of three?
- The two words sound very similar to a young ear, differing only in their first sound. Practicing that one sound (th, not tr) slowly and separately helps tell them apart.
- What's the actual sound difference between three and tree?
- Three starts with a th sound, made with the tongue between the teeth. Tree starts with a tr sound, made without the tongue touching the teeth. That's the only difference between the two words.
- What's a good way to practice counting words at home?
- Count real objects out loud together — one, two, three — and slow down specifically on three, since it's the word most often confused with tree.
- How does Maya teach this differently from a counting song?
- Maya asks the child to match a number of real objects to the right word, with real options, so they connect the counting word to the quantity instead of only repeating a sing-song sequence.
No card needed. The first lesson is free.
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Sources: English Curriculum 2020 for elementary school – Israeli Ministry of Education