The digit 1 represents a single thing.
---“One” means that something exists as a single unit. It may be one object, one idea, or one action.
Before numbers are used, a child must understand the idea of “one thing” as separate from “many things”.
---In each case, we are identifying a single instance.
---All counting begins with one. Without understanding “one”, larger numbers have no clear meaning.
The digit 1 is also used as a building block. For example:
The idea of “one” may seem simple, but it is an abstraction. Different objects can all be counted as “one”, even though they are not the same.