A visual method of teaching arithmetic, in which graphical representations of familiar objects are used instead of numbers, is particularly well suited for children who are visually oriented and have difficulty with numbers. The shapes of the objects resemble the numerals zero through nine. The objects may appear in any visual medium. Students are first shown examples of multiplication, division, addition, and subtraction, in which objects replace numbers. Each object is then shown by itself. The numeral that corresponds to the number value of each object is then overlaid on top of each object. Students are also shown groups of colored dots or balls, in which the colors of the dots match the colors of the objects and the number of dots corresponds to the numerical value represented by its corresponding object.