Dyscalculia

[BlackYellowRed]

DD (8) has been tested at school and came back positive. She's now got a bit of complex about it and gives up straight away when doing her math homework. She is getting some extra help at school, but not getting a lot of feedback about it.

Has anyone got any experience with dyscalculia? How can I help her at home?

i have it, although never been tested i kinda know her distress.
Im 40 though and there were no such things when i was at school

have you done a google search about it? like dyslexia there are exersizes im sure that you will find.

DH is convinced he has it too. We didn't realise it existed until her teacher talked to us.

Will google! Thanks.

me neither, i always knew i wasnt right, even now i struggle with telephone numbers, written and verbally. Cannot work money out and struggle writing cheques on the rare occasion i need to.

What i am saying is that i was neglected as a kid, but about 2 years ago i did a maths nightclass. I took my time and looked at maths with fresh eyes, i managed to complete the course and pass the exam at the end. The personal satisfaction and pride went way beyond any achievement i have ever gained in my life.

If her teacher is any good, she will know how to look at maths with your daughter in a different way.
Maths to your daughter will be like torture, as she just will not get the most simplest thing. She needs patience, time and lots of support. Under no circumstances should she be made to feel that she is thick like i was.

Both of my children have dyslexia and dyscalculia in various degrees. It is difficult, they need a lot of support and re-assurance to keep their confidence levels up. We have found the best way is not to struggle to get all the homework done, but to reduce it by us writing the questions and letting them do the answer work, if you feel that their are to many questions reduce the number of questions and write in the homework book. They need a sound basis with repetition, sometimes different maths words for the same action complicate maths ie plus, sum of, add, total all mean the same. We found kumon maths really good for DD but not so for DS. learning times tables by rote was a nightmare for DS, he is a visual learner and we used "timestales" memonics to help him learn his upper 3,4,5,6,7,8,9 times tables with good effect (we bought it off the internet about 20 pounds for times and divison pack from USA - but worth every penny for a visual learner).

If your child is receiving additional support in the class, they should have produced an IEP (individual educational plan) and if the school has asked for assessment outside of the school ie Educational Psychologist then your child should be on a school action plus level of the IEP. You should be very much involved in the IEP, given copies of any documents / reports prior to IEP meetings, invited termly to discuss progress and agree targets. The IEP should outline what targets are in place, how and who will support your child and how you can contribute to support your child. If you have not got an IEP ask for one. You will need to monitor your childs maths age, if the gap is widening with support, then your child needs additional help.

Good luck

Thank you Dolfin! I have not received an IEP as far I know. Apart from me signing a form to have the assessment and a chat after we got the results, we've not had much feedback. DD informs us on how it goes and what help she's getting.

I have it - but it wasn't really spotted when I was at school. Its great that it is now seen in a similar light to dyslexia.

Anyway - the only advice I have is to develop endless patience. When I was a kid I found it terribly frustrating as I could get to a stage (with endless repetition) where I could do, say, long division, but when asked to do it the following day it was as if it was a foreign concept all over again. This would often lead to spectacular maths homework-related tantrums!!

I am massively grateful to my parents for spending the time trying to help me (in hindsight it must have been frustrating for them too). As Dolfin says, repetition was key for me, and also understanding the huge mental block you develop when you think you can't do something. If its any help I also have problems with things like reading music, reading maps, and directions (apparently its all from the same bit of the brain).

Glad the school is taking steps to help - a good teacher did wonders for me.

I think you need to contact the school and ask for a meeting with the senco.

Hi there,

I am pretty sure that my daughter has this. She's now in Year 5 and I am going to go into school this week to talk to the teacher about it. The problem is that she's exceptionally good with literacy, and has managed to be 'just above average' in numeracy since she started school, so overall, they have never seen a problem with her. I have been in a few times to talk to them about it and have always gone away reassured, only for the same awful problems to occur with Maths homework. She can literally do something (often quite difficult) one MINUTE, then the next it is as though she is looking at the same question written in a foreign language!

I feel utterly awful because I have had so many arguments with her about it, and I keep thinking in my head that it is making her feel worse, and vowing not to get into battles with her about it again, but it appears (both to us and to her teachers) that she is simply giving up and refusing to do it through idleness (a trait that she does exhibit in other areas!).

Now I've read up about it I am definitely going to change our approach, and have been finding for a while that when she comes home with work and I find an alternative way to learn it with visual aids (eg time) she can do it, but it has to be re-learnt EVERY TIME I ask her to tell me the time. She knows only her 9 times table because she can work it out with some funny trick on her fingers. She has known her 6, 7 and 8 but forgot them within a week. Then learnt them again, then forgot them. She has an incredible memory for everything else, so this has baffled me until now.

God I'm going on, so sorry for the hijack, just venting.

Did you guys go to the class teacher first?

Hi Sorryimlate
Have a look at www.timestales.com for how to learn times tables in a visual format. It is brilliant - upper 3,4,6,7,8,9 times tables plus division (costs about 30 dollars - prompt delivery). My son has a working memory on the 1st centile and can remember the more difficult tables easily. He still struggles with the 2,5,10. I am sure it will help your daughter and boost her confidence.

You need to have a chat with the teacher and SENCO and explain your concerns. Ask for an
IEP for maths. If there is no improvement ask to be assessed by the Ed Psy.

Thanks Dolfin.

Those timestales look good, might go for that. I can't believe I've only just really considered that she might have this - I feel pretty bad actually

Do any of you have a private tutor? We are considering this as a family member has offered to pay, but the original intention was that it was for the 11+ exam so I think this is gonna be a little bit different!!

Both my children have tried Kumon maths, for my dd (5yrs kumon)the repetition at her own pace gave her a sound base for adding, subtracting, times tables, fractions etc, it has given her some confidence in maths. Although it hasnt helped with number reasoning ie when you have to solve a problem ie a farmer has 300 sheep etc.

My ds working memory is on the first centile and he couldnt cope with kumon. We have support him with timestale. When he was assessed he passed all visual questions and failed all pure number questions. DS now goes to a specialist school and the staff are excellent, his confidence is increasing and we havent felt the need for private tutor.

I think it is all about keeping positive, patience, visualisation of problems and repetition. A useful library book is "Working with Dyscalculia" by Anne Henderson.

sorryimlate, no worries about the hijack!

I can relate with the arguments... I thought DD was winding me up for ages

She is still in the upper group for maths, which is a bit of a boost for her confidence.

Reviving an old thread here..........my DS is 15 and I'm convinced both he and I have dyscalculia....he is above average in literacy, no problems there, so he's not stupid...but maths..ay ay ay !!!
Something he is shown one day,he can do easily..however leave it a day or so and it's as if he's never seen it before. Me too..I can't remember how to do simple multiplication and division, nor can he....school won't take me seriously as he's not doing "badly enough".......so frustrated..he needs a A at maths to follow his chosen career,but no chance at this rate....I've been flagging this up since yr 3 but no one listens.