Are we talking peas or carrots?

As our children are developing their number recognition, it is important to assign a unit to the number.  If you are counting peas, count up to the number of peas.  For example you would say 18 peas.  This is helping your child on multiple levels.  First, the counting helps the child to learn the ordering of numbers.  Second, it is reinforcing vocabulary like peas.  Third, it is preparing young children to be able to unitize their numbers and have a clear sense of what the number refers to.  So as we're counting out loud, verbally say what the number refers to.