Isabella, Who Is 5 Years Old, Observes Her Little Brother

Multiple Choice

Isabella, who is 5 years old, observes her little brother counting the 9 pennies in front of him. He first lines all the pennies up, and then he proceeds to count them, starting from the middle of the line, proceeding first all the way to the end of the line on the right and then continuing with the left-most penny and counting to the right, ending on the penny directly to the left of the penny he counted first. He counts, "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6,7, 8, 9” and then says, “I have 9 pennies.” What will Isabella probably say when asked if her brother counted correctly?

A) “Yes, that's the way I would count it. It's right.”
B) “That's the right number of pennies, but I would not count them that way.”
C) “You shouldn't count that way. That's not the right number of pennies.”
D) “That's not the right number of pennies. He should have counted the middle penny twice.”