Have you ever been told not to use your fingers for counting, or told someone else to avoid it? Counting on your fingers is actually an important part of developing math skills. Here is a great article by Jo Boaler on the importance of counting on fingers as one develops Math skills. Why Kids Should Use Their Fingers in Math Class.
Addition is simply combining two groups of things together and has application in every part of life. When adding two small things, this can be done relatively easily and often without having to write anything down. When we start adding large numbers, we have more steps to take in order to help us keep track of our addition.
Steps for addition:
Stack the numbers in columns according to place value.
Add in columns (place value) starting on the right and moving left.