I desperately need some suggestions, please! I have an 8-year-old daughter who is having a terrible time with math. She has been diagnosed with ADHD, but I say there’s something else going on. She is getting ready to go in the third grade, but can’t recall her math facts. She understands the concepts, just can’t recall them. She will usually count on fingers or anything else she can find. Earlier I tried to play a game with her from Peggy Kaye’s book, Games for Learning, where she rolls two die, adds the numbers and colors the appropriate square in on the rainbow. (I was playing too so it would feel more like a game.) But, when she figured out she had to add, she went to tears. I am trying to catch her up on addition and subraction (a complete nightmare) before starting multiplication in third grade so she won’t get farther behind. What do I do?
BTW, on her WIAT subtests, she tested -11 from mean on numerical operations and -6 from mean on math reasoning. Also, -10 on listening comprehension. Should I have her tested for math LD. If so, what do I ask for?
thanks for any input.
anita
Re: time for tears
Hi, Anita, it’s me again. I’m afraid that those scores would not qualify her for LD unless you had an IQ score at least several points above the mean. There is no doubt, though, that those levels will cause her problems.
Besides Math-U-See, I hear a lot of recommendations for a computer game called Quarter Mile Math to help learn math facts. I am debating about whether to take On Cloud Nine math training, too.
Email me her reading scores again. I want to compare them to the math.
Janis
Math
Anita, You might want to take a look at Math Facts the Fun Way at www.citycreek.com. I haven’t used these myself as my kids were fine with math facts, but I did recommend it two friends who were very happy with the results.
number facts
Look under LD In-Depth in math section and find article “Developing Fluency with Basic Number Facts: Intervention for Students with Learning Disabilities. It helped me see what I needed to do for my daughter. I copied the article and sent it to the school and a IEP was developed from it. I am getting a tutor this summer to help my child with math and we’ll see if the article helps and hopefully the school will begin the IEP in fall and we will at least start progressing.Good Luck!
time for tears
Thanks for the responses that have been posted. I am certainly going to look into the programs mentioned. Auditory Mom, thanks for the reference on that article. If I had checked it out earlier, I forgot about it. After reading it, and a couple quick questions to my daughter, I know we’re in trouble. She’s going in third grade and can’t skip count by 2s past 10, or by 5s and 10s past 100. Counting by 1s you have to keep her on track (probably from the ADHD). She also has trouble with money and time (a concept that is completely alien to her). However, on all her testing she does well on geometric (as long as she doesn’t have to put a word with an object) and spatial problems. Heaven forbid, though she has to figure out a word problem. I’m afraid this is going to be a loooonng journey. thanks again, anita
Re: time for tears
This suggests to me that she has underlying sequencing difficulties. It can be remediated—but to keep pounding on the number facts isn’t going to do it. Audioblox works on sequencing. Shirin, who used to post here a lot, had her daughter read numbers off a chart she put on a wall. She had to count to 100 and back to zero. Then by twos, fives, and 10s.
I used a metronome and a stool and had my son step on and off a stool while counting by twos and threes. I had a chart to 100 on the floor. When he got better at it, I took the chart awayand just chimed in if he messed up with the right number. He mastered 2 without too much difficulty. Then we did threes and fours. He didn’t have any trouble with five’s. The therapist we were working with told me three’s were really problematic for kids with LDs.
My son also has memory issues so it has not been smooth sailing but he does have sequencing down. He can count by 9’s now (we did skip counting forward and backwards on a big ball or trampoline once he did
4’s on stool). Can’t always remember that 6 X 9 is 54 though.
Beth
math problems
Hello,
I read about your daughter’s math problems. I have the same problems. I am nearly 40 now and have had these problems all my life. It has caused a nighmare for me. I cannot keep a checkbook, without lots of overdrafts, credit cards are a nightmare, and I am trying to obtain a doctorate and cannot pass the simple math courses.
I began doing some research online and ran across nonverbal learning disorders. It fit me to a “T”. Unfortunatly I cannot get a psychologist to believe me. They want to diagnose ADD, personality adjustment problems, etc. I am trying to find someone who can help me learn strategies in order to learn math.
Perhaps you could look up NLD online. Go to a search pane and put in nonverbal learning disorders and you will find the page for NLD.
I hope this helps.
Tracie
USA
On Cloud Nine
Hi Anita,
I have just taken the On Cloud Nine training and I can’t stop recommending it to everyone I know. You can just buy the book $50 at www.lblp.com The book is very simple and easy to follow. I also have problems in Math and the book makes everything so simple really. Oh and the book also talks about a child who cries everytime Math is mentioned :wink: . Good luck!
Re: time for tears
Dear Anita:
You are her mother and mother knows her child best. I think you are correct in thinking that there is another problem. The system wants to cram a lot of info into children these days to compete with the rest of the world. The math children do in grade three and four is what I did in the 8th grade.
There pressure is to cover the max amout of info in the least amout of time. You may want to slow this down for her and just have fun with it. She should be able to count the dots on dice as this is just simple basic counting. I hated math when I was a child and would not do any of it. Now that I am older I designed a system to help children learn to like it. You may want to put large numbers on steps and have her count them as she walks on them. Find what motivates her and use it to get her to play the fun games.
You can get free graphics from my site at:
http://dotmath.tripod.com/
HI,
Sounds like me, a long time ago! I feel that the reason she is counting out things is that she doesn’t understand the concepts very well or is unsure of them. You might look into some materials that are heavily manipulative based. I have not actually used it, but have heard good things re: Math-U-See. (http://www.math-u-see.com). I don’t think that just putting things in a game context will help much as it sounds like she is a smart cookie and is figuring out you are trying to sugar coat it. Best to be quite upfront with her.
Another thing you might look into is: On Cloud Nine from Lindamood bell.
It’s possible she can’t hold the concepts in her mind to work with them.
Hard to say without seeing the kid. However, I had similar trouble. I did not understand division/multiplication but was put into the classes with the assumption that I did. Naturally I did not remember the “facts” because it was essentially like memorizing something totally meaningless (which is very difficult). Now that I understand what is going on I do know most of them, though get mixed up with a few.
Another thing I will say is that the really important math stuff is money and other practical stuff. It is real important for kid with Ld in math to get a handle on that.
BTW, the testing might be good as she could qualify for special services, which she could get in the public schools.
BTW, you aren’t in Albuquerque are you? (oh sure :-)) I would love to work with her. I just love tutoring math for some reason.
—des