This paper describes a study that examined parents' beliefs about children's number skill development. Twenty-seven parents of 4- and 5-year-olds were interviewed about number tasks that could be solved by children between the ages of 4 and 7 years. In addition, parents were asked a series of open-ended questions about how they would answer a child's questions about math, their own experiences with math, and their expectations for their children's performance in math. Parents predicted that children would solve counting tasks prior to computational and number concept tasks. They expected that their own children would solve all types of number tasks earlier than other children. In addition, parents of boys expected them to solve all tasks earlier than did parents of girls. Finally, they believed that parents and schools have the most impact on early number development. It appears that parental beliefs concerning number development best fit a socialization model that emphasizes the importance of adults. Four tables showing analysis of variance are included. (GLR)