Teaching DS to use a pair of compasses

[Solo2]

How can I help my 8 yr old DS - who has always been slightly dyspraxic, how to use a pair of compasses? We've had an agonising evening, over his Maths homework and after ages of trying really, really hard, he still couldn't draw a circle without the compasses slipping/ opening up. But even when they didn't slip, he couldn't at all figure out what to do with his hands and body and the paper. He was clearly in pain and very tense and twisting this way and that and upset and I got him to abandon it in the end.

He is otherwise v bright (though more in literacy than in Maths) and frustrated by his lack of motor coordination.

Anyone know of special pairs of compasses I could buy him and also exactly how to teach him to do it, step-by-step - or is it just down to practice?

I'm not sure if there are special compasses but if they are opening up you need to get a new pair which you can tighten up really hard so that they don't slip at all.

Get him to practise holding the compasses still and turning the paper - this is much easier than turning the compasses. You don't have to hold them very hard, just quite lightly and make sure he holds them still. Start with big circles and as he gets better try smaller ones.

I'm very surprised an 8 yr old is using compasses in maths at all, let alone for maths homework. What exactly is his homework apart from drawing circles?

Thank you very much for the advice. The kind of homework he's doing is geometry really - drawing triangles with specific angle sizes and side lengths, differentiating between isoceles and equilateral triangles, acute and obtuse abgles etc etc and learning about the differemt aspects of circles - radius, diameter, circumference and the relation between these. He is also struggling with using a protractor - like where to measure from for each angle - and even with just holding a ruler still, whilst he measures and then draws a line. He seems to find it almost impossible to know what to do with his hands and fingers to hold something like a ruler steady and still draw the line to the right length.

He's the kind of child who is still struggling to ride a bicycle without stabilisers, cut up his food neatly etc etc. To make matters worse, he has a twin (non-identical) brother who is particularly skilled with fine motor coordination and even a bit talented at things like cutting out, using small instruments, eating neatly, cycling etc.

Thank you again for your input.

You're welcome. For what it's worth most year 5 children struggle to use compasses and protractors for this kind of thing. Also I think that learning about radius, diameter and circumference is started in secondary school usually (talking state schools here) and these topics are not in year 6 SATs as far as I know (unless they've been introduced in the last couple of years!) so it sounds like a lot is being asked of him.

To be honest it sounds ridiculous that he's being asked to do this if he's in year 4 and struggles to use a ruler to draw a line of a certain length. I would talk to the teacher about it if he's getting really upset.

ds1 really struggles with fine motor skills and finds using a compass very hard. I bought him one with a little wheel/gear thing in the middle, so it's far less flexible and more accurate.

It takes longer to set it up, and it can't draw very big circles, but he's delighted with it.

like this

Thanks again. I've talked to his teacher tonight - who's very nice and who clarified that the children aren't yet supposed to be competent in use of pairs of compasses. He's given us some hints to try at home and reassured both my son and I. DS is fairly young for the class too - as lots of his peers have just tunred 9 and he won't be 9 till next April (should really be May, as he was premature). So, in the light of what you're also saying, maybe it's not so worrying, especially given his dyspraxia too.

He (and twin) got to a private school where you have to pass an exam to get in at age 6/7. There are some Maths 'geniuses' (neither of my twins is anywhere like that bright) and I think lots of them are racing ahead in Maths. Whereas DS -like me - finds Maths generally challenging as well as all those tools you need for geometry!

Thanks again for the reassurance.

Ah I thought it must be a school for Maths Geniuses.

The compasses Roisin linked to look good, might be worth getting something like that, especially if he has been given a crap old pair by the teacher.