Start by knowing and recognizing the numbers from 1 to 20.
One of the early skills that you want your child to master is counting to 10 out loud. In the beginning your child will just recite the numbers without realizing that the numbers are used to count.
As you read to the child, or look at pictures, or anyplace, ask how many of various objects you see. Hold the child's finger and point to each item in order as you count together. Demonstrate that you touch each object just once as you count.
Don't forget zero! Zero is an important concept. Looking at a picture of cows ask "How many elephants do you see?" (Or some other object that is not in the picture.) At first the child will laugh at the joke, and tell you that there aren't any elephants. Say, "That's right, there are zero elephants." After a while the child will understand the concept of zero. This is important preparation for understanding place values.
Arranged from easiest to hardest:
There are 2 groups of objects in the picture.
Skip counting, or counting by numbers other than 1 is good preparation for learning to multiply.
Children usually learn to count by 10, then 2 and 5 first.
Groups of 10 (in a box) are shown on the left, single items (ones) are shown on the right.
Count the ones first: if there are 10 or more, draw a line around the group of ten and count with the tens. Count the ones next and write the number in the ones place. There must always be a digit in the ones place, but a 0 on the left is not written. Please read about place values.
