As they explore the world around them children notice how things are alike and different. They notice whether another child has more cookies. They compare sizes of people.

Comparing and ordering are important concepts for math skills such as measurement, subtraction and division.
Children learn math concepts by making observations in their everyday world. How quickly they learn depends to a large extent on the opportunities available to them for informal counting experiences.
Here’s a parenting tip: expose your child to numbers in everyday life. Just as you encourage reading by sharing books, encourage math skills by counting, matching, sorting and comparing.