But she didn't want to pass on her hang-ups about it to her young son Connor so last year her family joined a program that teaches parents and early child carers to use everyday activities to develop maths skills in children aged three to five.

Now Mrs O'Neill sees opportunities to expose Connor to maths everywhere; from cooking dinner and setting the table to feeding the dogs and watering plants in the garden.

"He has a greater awareness of numerals in his environment. He wants to know the cost of the food we're ordering in a restaurant or how much older great grandma is to everyone else," she said.

While it sounds simple, proof of the Let's Count program's success is in the numbers.

A report released today by The Smith Family reveals more than half the 8500 children who participated in the year-long program could count to 20 by the end, compared with 37 per cent of same-aged children not involved. Almost two-thirds of participants could also divide objects compared with only one in three kids not involved with Let's Count.

Anne Hampshire, The Smith Family's head of research and advocacy, said the program was set up in 2011 after data collected by the government, now known as the Australian Early Development Census, suggested large numbers of preschool children, especially in low socio-economic communities, had less than ideal maths knowledge.

Ms Hampshire said while many parents and preschools focused on teaching children how to read, engaging in maths skills didn't come as naturally to some parents, despite its relevance to daily life.

"Numeracy is a critical skill for everyday activities like budgeting, taking medication and cooking. It's also a key skill for employment, and mathematics is essential for the future of innovative economies," she said.

Research has found a child's early maths skill predicts their later achievement in the area.

"Children who start ahead, usually stay ahead. But if they start behind they tend to stay behind," Ms Hampshire said.

Let's Count, which mainly helped disadvantaged families, but also worked with families from more affluent backgrounds like the O'Neill's, provided resources for parents and early childcare centres to teach young children maths.

"It's not about sitting down and having an algebra lesson. If you're cooking at home its about talking in terms of weights and measurements. If you're going on a road trip, it's talking about how far we're going."

Ms Hampshire said so far the program had been supported by $1.6 million from the Origin Foundation, but she hoped governments and private funders would step up and support a rollout across the country.

Ten tips to foster your child's love for maths

• Observe numbers and shapes in everyday situations: on street signs, in the park, at the supermarket. How many cars can you see? Are there more or fewer than before?
• Count steps as you're going up stairs.
• Play outside with water or sand. Use scales and/or measuring containers of different sizes.
• Play with blocks and use the opportunity to point out the sizes and shapes, the number or any patterns. Problem-solving can also be introduced through blocks by identifying the best ways to stop towers from toppling. 
• Bath time offers the opportunity to observe volume and metrics using cups filled with water.
• Sorting the laundry is a chance to ask your toddler to help you sort socks into pairs, or count the number of T-shirts. Which pile of clothes is the tallest? Which is the shortest?
• When making lunch discuss with your child as you cut a sandwich into halves, quarters or thirds. How many pieces do you have now?
• Do a puzzle and point out sizes, shapes and colours. Where are the corners? How many are there?
• Use a tape measure to find a child's height. How does their height compare with other members of the family? Who is the tallest and who is the shortest in the family?
• Bake together. What ingredients need to be measured; what is the order of ingredients? How many cupcakes are there? Should we make fewer large ones or more small ones?

Love science (and maths)? Like us on Facebook