I am not an expert, more an enthusastic amateur and wrestled with the same issues early on but very basically:
Tables are for storing base data

Query's are for extracting, filtering and when necessary manipulating (eg calculations) data from those tables

Forms are for looking at stuff on screen in tables or queries and should also be used for data input - its not good practice to let users enter data directly into tables. Data can oly be entered into Tables, not into queries
Reports are for getting info from tables or queries in logical, well laid out printable form.

For this issue, use New Query, Simple Query Wizard and in the Summary Options, choose Count for those fields you want counted

Hope this helps