Children with dyscalculia need extra practice and support to master counting and basic number sense, such as the relationship between larger and smaller numbers. These children also require explicit instruc-tion with regard to money, measurements, shapes, and time. The good news is that when we structure additional support and practice in a way that is compatible with a child’s learning characteristics, children with dyscalculia can make excellent gains in all of these areas.
Let’s look at some of the strategies you can use with your child to master important areas of math. For a handy downloadable checklist of the tips in this chapter, visit this book’s website: http://www.newharbin ger.com/40989.
Counting
To help your child develop counting skills and number sense, post a number line with large, easy- to- read numbers in your child’s bedroom or play area. Help your child recognize the relationship that numbers have to one another. For instance, you might say, “Four comes before five but after three (3, 4, 5).” Be sure to use familiar objects, such as fingers and toes, to practice counting, and use a rising intonation as you count higher.
Then, help your child understand that every number corresponds to a quantity (3 = ***). This will lead into working on math- related con-cepts such as money, measurement, and time. For these concon-cepts, you can use real- life examples to reinforce direct instruction.
As your child becomes more proficient in counting, engage in basic adding and subtracting games. Start by using actual objects. You can also purchase inexpensive large dice and create a game of rolling dice
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and adding the numbers or, conversely, rolling the dice and subtracting the numbers.
Teach your child to count by 2s, 3s, 4s, 5s, 6s, 7s, 8s, 9s, and 10s when he or she is ready. You might want to start with 2s, 5s, and 10s.
Help your child recognize that multiplication is just another way of adding (3 X 4 = 4 + 4 + 4).
Money
To help your child learn about money, begin by teaching him or her how to recognize the value of coins and bills. You can play simple addi-tion and subtracaddi-tion games using whatever you have on hand. You can also play “shopkeeper.” Provide your child with a number of different coins and bills, and have him or her play the role of shopkeeper or cus-tomer. Pretend to buy or sell imaginary items. Switch places. When you are at a store, teach your child where to find prices of merchandise.
Help your child learn about the value of saving money by starting a savings jar. As the parent, choose how much money is contributed and how often. But if you are able, let your child choose what will be done with the money saved. You don’t need to use large amounts of money;
even contributing one quarter a week will allow your child to see that it can take several weeks to save enough money to buy a pack of gum or donate enough money to cover the cost of a meal at a shelter.
Measurement
To help your child learn about measurement, engage in relatable measuring activities: find the height of friends and family members, find the width and length of your child’s bedroom, and follow recipes.
Encouraging your child to cook with you and engaging in conversations about the ingredients you are using and why you are using specific amounts will give your son or daughter experience counting, measuring, and learning about ratios. As your child’s math skills improve, you can double or halve a recipe to try new calculations.
Use a variety of tools when measuring, such as rulers, tape measur-ers, measuring spoons, cups, and scales. Teach your child about distance,
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such as miles, by taking your son or daughter on a walk or car ride and letting him or her know when you have traveled one mile. Teach your child about weight by letting him or her use a scale to weigh household objects; describe the concepts of pounds, ounces, and kilograms. If your child is required to calculate the area of a square or rectangle, you can relate this to the area of a soccer field or baseball diamond. If your child is learning about statistics and how to average numbers, attribute a set of numbers to the scores of an athlete. These are all ways to help your child stay engaged.
Shapes
Help your child recognize basic shapes: circles, squares, triangles, and so on. Start by drawing a wide variety of shapes on a large sheet of paper or whiteboard. Have your child say the name of each shape. As your child is able to identify shapes easily, move on to three- dimensional shapes such as spheres (balls), cubes (blocks), and columns (straws).
As your child gets older, discuss the concepts of perimeter, area, and volume in ways your child can relate to, such as the amount of carpet needed to cover a floor or how much water is in a fish tank.
Time
Use an analog clock to help your child learn time. Analog clocks are better than digital clocks for learning time because it is easier for a child to recognize the relationship between seconds, minutes, and hours. Have your child count to sixty so he or she experiences one minute. You can also time your child while he or she runs from one side of a playground to the other side to teach about measuring time.
Teach your child that there are twenty- four hours in a day. Explain that he or she is at school for about seven hours and that he or she sleeps for about eight or nine hours.
Using a calendar, help your child understand the relationships between days, weeks, months, years, and decades. Help your child use a calendar on a regular basis to reinforce how time is used and passes by.
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