Infants are born with an instinctive awareness of very small quantities called subitizing. They aren’t saying any words, of course, especially 1,2,3.  But counting is much more than reciting those words.  It is a logical way of thinking that allows for increasing precision. In this session, we will be exploring the strong connections between language and cognitiver development in infants and toddlers that leads to true number sense.   We will be looking at the trajectory  that shows how the  very generalized precursor concepts of infants develop into abstract understanding of “More” in young toddlers and leads to older toddlers understand that counting allows us to name “how many of what” –that is, to rationally count. We will be stressing how this development does not happen through drill or use of screen time.  Rather, it depends on positive interactive communications between infants and toddlers and loving caregivers. In other words, the more very young children play and are engaged in math conversations,  the more likely they are to enter preschool fully primed to count and take on other mathematical tasks.   And, as research has made clear—the more they have strong early math experiences,  the more likely it is that they will be successful in school.