When children start school, they learn how to recite their numbers (“one, two, three…”) and how to write them (1, 2, 3…). Learning about what those numbers mean is even more challenging, and this becomes trickier yet when numbers have more than one digit — such as 42 and 608.
It turns out that the meaning of such “multidigit” numbers cannot be gleaned from simply looking at them or by performing calculations with them. Our number system has many hidden meanings that are not transparent, making it difficult for children to comprehend it.
