Math Fluency and Dyslexia

Could he be a Visual-Spatial Learner? This can also cause issues with basic math. http://www.visualspatial.org/ has some great information on people who are visual-spatial learners.

My dd has Dyslexia and Dyscalculia but is also a Visual-Spatial Learner. She “gets” the higher concepts but has always struggled with memorizing math facts. The last 2 years she has done a self-paced supported math program in pre-algebra. She has a calculator and has made a lot more progress than her math teacher thought her capable of because she really does understand the concepts. On standard testing without the calculator she scores at about 3rd or 4th grade but in class she is doing 7th grade work and doing it well.

I am highly visual myself and also had a hard time learning math facts. I work teaching basic math to kids with a number of diagnoses. Basically I just teach the facts, over and over again with visual and concrete models, with two different books on the same level for even more repetition. With time and work, and lots of rows of dots and a bag of pennies and an abacus, the facts do stick.

There are two programs I know of which can be helpful for developing math facts fluency.

The first one is Math Facts the Fun Way at http://www.citycreek.com. This program almost always works for children who are unable to remember math facts, but who can remember stories.

The second is QuarterMile Math software at http://www.thequartermile.com. This is best for children who know at least some of the math facts, and is probably what I would recommend for a 12yo. Some children can’t handle the racing aspect of the program, so it’s a good idea to call or email the company for a demo CD before ordering. If your son is not a good keyboarder, I would recommend that you do the keyboarding for him. Set a timer for 10 minutes per day, and have him do it every day. This is a drill program that works on improving speed and accuracy (fluency).

Nancy

Thanks! I think my son will really enjoy the Quartermile!!! In the ad, it says that Sylvan uses it, and I have heard that Sylvan has a great math fluency program.

My antennae are flashing danger! danger! here.
Fluency, in either reading or math, does NOT, repeat NOT equal speed. Fluency develops out of *first* accuracy, understanding, and control, and *then* speeding up after you know what you are doing. Pressure for speed at an early stage leads to fast mistakes — and what are those good for?
I also have *huge* questions about “Math Facts The Fun Way”. A couple of years back several people here were praising this program to the skies - it was the answer to all their problems, the greatest thing since sliced bread. I sat here being my stick-in-the-mud self, saying that retention, accuracy, and transfer are generally very very poor with “trick” systems such as this. A year later, one of these same people posted here and said that the retention from MFTFW was very poor and she was having to re-teach all the facts the old basic way, ie actually knowing them. If one person has the guts to stand up n public and admit that something popular was a failure, experience tells us a lot more are just not saying.

I work all the time with students who are far far behind in either math or reading or both. I am a private tutor completely separate from the school system and people pay me out of pocket, so I’m the last resort after all the other efforts within the system have failed. I DO get results with the kids that everyone else has given up on, I DO teach ” severely dyslexic” or “severely ADD” or “processing problem” (whatever the [mis]diagnosis du jour is) kids to read and to do math, and I do it by getting down to nitty-gritty and, well, *teaching*. No games, no frills, no tricks, no magic wands, just time and patience and making logical connections After you get tired of spending time and money and effort on things that promise big but don’t pan out, feel free to ask again.

Both of those programs are great for making the memorization easier and connecting it to different parts of the brain - another option is to build them conceptually (especially if, as sometimes happens, it’s *still* hard because it’s memorizing, period).
There are some multisensory ideas and sample chapters (and the whole book for sale) at my site at http://www.resourceroom.net/math/index.asp and http://www.resourceroom.net/Products/toolstimes.asp .
There is also online practice, one times table at a time, starting with the easiest ones.
Whether he’s just a little bit better at the concepts or a whole lot better at the concepts, it is still going to make a big difference now and later to know the facts. Knowing the times and addition facts really does make all kinds of difference even if you’ve got a calculator. For every person who claims to know a great math whiz who can’t do arithmetic, there are 100 (or 1000) other people who have not gotten that degree or gone back to school because of math… and most of those people who claim they acan’t do arithmetic really can.

I posted on the math board, but I would favor the Sopris West Practicing Basic Skills in Math and Otter Creek’s Mastering Math Facts. Links are posted there.

I should perhaps clarify that I recommend Math Facts the Fun Way only after the child has a good conceptual understanding of math facts. The original poster did indicate good conceptual understanding of math.

Fluency consists of a combination of accuracy and speed. QuarterMile Math does not promote speed at the price of accuracy. It has the student start at his own level of accuracy and gradually improve speed with practice. Since the races are measured in very small increments of time (hundredths of a second, I think), even very small improvements in speed are rewarded.

One caveat I have about QMM is that it is *not* a fun-filled program for most students. It is still drill. Drill is most effective when done for short periods of time frequently. QMM does provide this and it can be done independently.

Nancy

Thanks for all the replies and great ideas. I have found this forum so helpful!

Yes, my son does not have difficulty with “concepts.” He just cannot remember math facts, in which direction to multiply and divide in multi-numeral multiplication and long division, how to switch numerators and denominators when dividing fractions, etc. He has a serious memory deficit, which many dyslexics have, plus he has the directionality issue. The basics of math are killing him, not the deep understanding of math that is difficult for most people. Does that make sense?

My son is the one Victoria is referring to. He learned his multiplication facts quite easily using Math Facts the Fun way but did not retain them. We had to spend a whole year relearning them, using body movement and drill (think bouncing on ball while reciting the math facts) but in the end, it worked. Today, three years later, he still knows them.

My son is more of an auditory learner than a visual learner and that may have played a role in our experience with the program.

Quarter drill is no quick fix. It really is computerized math facts put in a race form so that the child has some incentive to become faster. They really are racing against themselves. The program only counts facts that are correct so it certainly doesn’t encourage speed at the price of accuracy. Also it is only good to use once the child knows his math facts but isn’t quite automatic. It doesn’t teach math facts and a child who doesn’t know them at least somewhat will just get frustrated.

Beth

That is my grief with most “times tables help.” I couldn’t believe how many books or programs just assumed you were almost most of the way there. That’s why, when I did my little class project in javascript, I had a separate exercise for each number (and the higher ones have two, one practice sheet for the lower and one for the upper; and there’s an ‘in order’ page and a ‘mixed up’ page) and a cumulative review after each one. (Don’t have the skill for random generation… yet :-))

It’s still rote city there, but if you start with the understanding then the drill and practice make it go more efficiently (and some students will start seeing patterns, especially if encouraged to do so) even if it never gets to instantaneous recall.

7 to go :-)

The Otter Creek materials are what you need. They work on a couple of facts at a time until those are mastered and then move to new ones.

Janis