Teaching Strategies for Children with Dyscalculia

Finally this is the last of my post for this week about dyscalculia. At end of it all, the main goal of everyone surrounding a child with dyscalculia is to help this child reach his or her utmost potential and so I dedicate this last post on what I learned about how to help a child with dyscalculia.

A. Techniques in Helping a Child with Dyscalculia

1. Thinking out Loud
2. Let them work their own way out
3. Assure them that its alright to forget or not understand
4. Let the child check their own work (review and evaluate their work)

B. Important Elements of a Teaching Program

1. Consider the Pupil’s Needs
Pupils may have varying abilities and levels of achievement. Teaching should provide the structure and organization that their learning difficulty denies them and enable the full spectrum of learning styles to function

2. The structure of the Course
A structure based on a spiral with a small pitch allows regular revisits to the same topics. This provides opportunities for the ever-essential over-learning (and acknowledges the difficulty in achieving master of some topics).

3. Classroom Management: Making the Lessons Suit the Pupils
The short attention spans and memory deficits of dyslexic pupils require that a lesson should be divided into short subsections alternating exposition, demonstration, practical work, discussion, practice, and so on.

4. Evolving Expectations and Emphases
The initial aim of restoring students’ belief in their ability to succeed in mathematics is best met by building with what they know because they often know much more than they realize and their knowledge just needs rationalization and organization.

Sources:

Chinn, S & Ashcroft, R. (2007) Mathematics for Dyslexics (Including Dyscalculia).
West Sussex, England. John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Hannell, G. (2005) Dyscalculia (Action Plans for Successful Learning in
Mathematics). London.