I think with most kids it is the opposite. They are very good at reciting the string of numbers, but have no idea what it means.
This. It sounds to me like he gets what numbers mean (they represent quantity) and has a natural feel for how they can work together to figure out other quantities and patterns and representations. He's just not too good with their names yet.
DS8 has always been fluid with what numbers represent and are for. Based on his experience, the only red flag I see for your DS is - watch out for Common Core in early elementary! DS has broken pencils, shredded paper and bellowed in frustration at questions like "how did you figure out that 9+7 = 16?" In his words - "I didn't FIGURE IT OUT. It just IS!!!" (Visualize fist pounding table).
Side note - I'm actually not bashing Common Core here. It's an OK system for teaching what numbers actually MEAN to children (and teachers) whose brains don't have that innate sense hard-wired from the get go. But it's pull your hair out annoying to those kids who do. And honestly, beyond a certain level of brute force mechanical learning, I think if it's not in there, you can't force it into existence, using any teaching system.
