Concept of Number

When a child has problems learning the basic facts of number, then his problems may be compounded by his consequent failure to develop an understanding of the values and interrelationships of numbers. For children with dyslexia/dyscalculia/learning difficulties in mathematics, the development of this last facility is a likely alternative route for coping with the memory demands of early numeracy as suggested in the NRC's Key Finding 2 Number lines act as an intermediate stage between images of materials such as bead strings and Cuisenaire rods and symbols. Numbers can more easily be ‘assessed and accessed’ if they form a recognisable pattern or if they can be seen as a combination of simpler numbers. The number bonds/combinations are fundamental in aiding number concept. Number sense and place value understanding are found to be core numerical abilities for Chinese children learning early mathematics.