Homeschooling Math Problem-LD child

Go to the LD In Depth page and do some reading in the math articles. There is one that specifically discusses the counting-to-add topic (sorry, I forget the title) and mentions that kids use various methods and fall back on the recount method when they feel unsure. Many others are also valuable.

The general message is *don’t rush* but *do teach* at an appropriate level. If you push her hard beyond her level of comprehension, she may cooperate by rote but will not internalize the skills, and they will melt away like snow in the summer; and she will learn to fear and hate math. Rather, do lots and lots of work at the top end of her present level to lead her gently into the next level.

Yes, dyslexia may have a lot to do with the math. If you don’t understand and write symbols on paper well, you will also have difficulty with math symbols.
Recently I am meeting more and more kids with directionality problems. My suspicion is that since the schools around where I live/have lived don’t teach handwriting any more — just hand the kids pencils and do your own thing — and mostly use “whole-language” attempts at reading where directional scanning is very little stressed, the kids haven’t got a really solid base in the arbitrary directionality conventions that are so basic to our paper-and pen work.
I find that if I directly teach handwriting — either print or cursive or both, but both in pen for smooth work — and stick to directionality over all complaints, a lot of issues get sorted out together. Number skills get better when direction is stressed because order is so vital here. It takes about four to six months for most kids, and needs regular supervision for some time after that, but it is time well invested.

For the issue of reading two-digit numbers over the twenties, clearly she has a poor grasp of the base ten system. Teach this directly by counting, writing, and counting again. An abacus (the child toy type with ten rows of ten beads on wires) is an ideal tool, and I have to get out and find one myself. You have to group things in tens and talk about groups of tens and groups of ones or units. I have been doing this recently with pennies on a table for the last three months twice a week with one seven-year-old, and the light flashed on after about two months.
As a side note, this is important for addition and subtraction as well. If you have to do 8 + 5, for example, you slide two pennies out of the 5 over to *complete the 10*, so you have 10 + 3 = 13. Then 13 - 5 you take the three loose pennies and then two more to make five, leaving eight. This takes a long long time to conceptualize, but is it ever useful!

I have heard good things about the Singapore math books so I wouldn’t say to drop them. Are you using just the text or the workbooks as well? I have read posts from people who say the workbooks are definitely a good thing.
Here’s a good approach when stalled in any skill topic (reading, fluency, phonics, math, handwriting, foreign language): get *several* (three or even four) workbooks at the same level. Instead of stalling and fighting over one book, move to another and do the same topic, then a third, and if necessary a fourth. Start at the beginning of a chapter and work through it; this way you get lots of review and there is the motivating factor of starting easy and succeeding. You get lots of practice, several different views and presentations of the same material, and a feeling of progress as you finish so many pages and so many books. Somewhere in there usually a light flashes in the brain and the child speeds up BUT you do more practice for a while anyway — this is called “overlearning and is vital for retention and ease working with a skill (as NHL hockey stars still go to practice and shoot goals, right?) Sometimes a child catches on in one particular book and wants to use only that one; use it first if she wants, but do some of the others for review and practice too.

Any reasonable workbook that contains all the material and isn’t silly will do for extra practice; it doesn’t need to be an expensive program. I am presently using a commercial series called MathSmart, the book “Complete MathSmart” for each grade containing a couple of hundred pages with varied practice, pictures to illustrate the concepts, and some problems presented verbally. It isn’t a complete math program, but at this level *you* as the teacher control the program, and the book is just a time-saver in having oodles of varied practice already written out.

I would recommend Math-U-See over Singapore for this type of child. Singapore is all workbook and MUS is much more multi-sensory. Plus, MUS has the benefit of video training for the teacher.

Janis

HEre’s yet another opinion — nobody was hoping to get a consensus on a child we haven’t seen, eh? Just some thoughts — keep what makes sense, toss what doesn’t. I am not sure about Math-U-See since it sometimes gets abstract too quickly for some learners, and this kiddo seems to be struggling with the abstractions. I would lean towards, as Vic says, paying attention to where she is developmentally (regardless of her age/grade and whatever arbitrary definitions are tossed at her). See if your library/bookstore has a copy of Peggy Kaye’s Games for Mathematics (not sure about the exact title) — but even there, the stories and verbal aspects of the math games can be overwhelming to someone struggling with language, too.
There are kiddos who struggle with just about everything who do okay — *if* they’re allowed to go at their own pace, and are doing thigns at a confident, “educational” level, not a ‘frustration’ level. If she’s at point X on the developmental graph, and you’re always teaching at X + 2, she may proceed forward for a while but the toll on her confidence and comprehension will be significant and she’ll stall out when things get even more abstract Back off to where she’s successful and inch forward and she’ll move forward — *and* learn all kinds of good strategies and attitudes towards math.
And at the same time, there is nothing wrong in my opinion, with memorizing facts that she may not yet understand fully. Knowing addition, subtraction, multiplication and division facts will come in handy *regardless.* (Just don’t assume that because she can state that 8 x 7 = 56, that she knows what that means.)

Just had another thought. The On Cloud Nine Math book by Lindamood-Bell would be very useful in helping a child like this who is havign trouble with the major concepts. It is not a complete math program. You’d still need to use something like MUS. But you could use the techniques in OCN as you introduced new topics.

http://www.lindamoodbell.com/OnCloudNineMath.html

Janis

I like OCN and see it as more a philosophy than an actual math program. I find myself using all that visualizing and verbalizing stuff in teaching math. However MUS is a much more complete program.

I’m not sure I agree it goes too fast into abstraction, seems to me that you can slow it down however you like if it is for an individual student. The point is probably more valid for a group situation.

—des

When you get the testing done make sure you find out about your daughter’s learning style. What method works best for her to learn?

Can reading disabilities cause math problems? Certainly! It’s all language.

Don’t stress the fact that she has to use manipulatives. The psychologists say that the first learning needs to be concrete and then you work on the abstract. The numeral 2 is an abstract concept. Two teddy bears is a concrete thing.

From what you’ve written she’s at an early level with her math skills. Kids typically develop more mature ideas as they get older. You may try to teach explicitly the idea of counting on (starting from 6, then going to 7 and 8), but if she isn’t at the stage where she can count from a number other than 1 it may be frustrating for both of you. (My 8 yo has to start at A to do alphabetization.) The next step from where she is now would be counting on from numbers other than 1, followed by starting with the larger number when counting on.

Another thing you might try is teaching her some of the underlying math theory (in an appropriate way). You say that she can do number plus one problems. Show her with her bears that she can do number plus two by doing (number plus one) plus one. For example, 3 + 2 is going to be the same as (3+1) +1. You can show her that 3+2 is the same as 2+3 by having 3 bears of one color and 2 of another and then by having 2 of the first color and 3 of the other. This will help her when it comes to facts because she’ll have less she has to memorize.

Once you have an idea of how she learns you will have a better place to start for books and strategies. At this point, given what you’ve told us, I’d suggest going with material which is more hands on and less written. She’s already had success with hands on material and you suspect that she has difficulty with the written texts. I might be tempted to junk the math books altogether for now. Work with counters and stuff that feels more like play.