How can I help DD2 - what would you do?

[lougle]

DD2 is struggling with maths.

She's been doing 'bridging through 10', but clearly doesn't understand what she's doing when she bridges to 10. She plucks numbers out of the air. She said 'It was really tricky and I couldn't have help from because I've had too much help already. I've got another page to do in class and that's even trickier.'

I found a bridging through 10 game on the internet, which she enjoyed (because the spaceman jumps towards the rocket, then the rocket flies off into space) but she was clearly guessing the numbers.

I asked her today whether she'd done more bridging through 10 and she said:

'No. Yesterday we were 'trying to decide the right strategy to use.'
Me: 'Ok, what was the problem you were doing?'
DD2: 'There was no problem.'
Me: 'Sorry, DD2, I mean 'what sums were you doing.'
DD2: 'Starting with 9 and adding different numbers, or starting with different numbers and adding 9.'
Me: 'Ok, how did that go?'
DD2: 'A bit easier - I did have help from quite a lot. I got them all wrong though.'
Me: 'Oh, why?'
DD2: 'Well I was trying to decide which club is the best: Mrs H (ELSA) or Dragonflies. But it's a very tricky decision, so it was very difficult. But I did think about it quietly.'
Me: 'Weren't you meant to be doing maths?'
DD2: 'Yes, but the decision was tricky and it took a long time to think about.'
Me: 'Right What did you decide?'
DD2: 'I didn't decide, it was too tricky.'

So, I said to the SENCO that she's struggling, I don't think she gets the concepts and she's an explicit learner, so should I be breaking it all down and try to teach her it at home, or let the teacher get on with it in class?

The SENCO said not to teach her at home because it may confuse her and the teacher knows where DD2 is 'at' with it, plus she worries that it might create more pressure. She commented that 'DD2 isn't even there, is she' when I relayed my conversation this morning.

My issue is that DD2 knows her number bonds to 10. She doesn't know how that connects to bridging through 10. She doesn't know what she's doing. Or why she's doing it.

DD2 will not learn by exposure and osmosis!

So...what do I do? Sit back and allow her to stagnate? She's going to really struggle.

Finally finished ds' curriculum that won't ever be granted..........

Numicon

It's a little bit expensive and their manual could be a bit more ORDERED given that they are supposed to have some kinda expertise in logic but it IS good stuff.

I know, zzzzz it's frustrating. I don't want this stuff in chat - I want to be able to refer back to it at later dates. But chat has the photos.

Star they won't be able to, unless they operate in clusters. At the moment, DD2's school is in a cluster with her old school, and 6 other schools, who all train together and benchmark together, etc. So they could choose to collaborate on an assessment system and then moderate their assessments between the schools in that cluster. However, if a child moved in from a school 10 miles away, that child may have been assessed by a completely different system and been following a totally different curriculum.

Ooh thank you for numicon info -looks good. So funny that you're at this juncture, Lougle have just started looking in earnest re maths intervention or home.

*for home

Montessori bead bars

The principle is the same, but they're linear. So you can see that you can have a turquoise '5 bar' or you can have a yellow '4 bar' and a red '1 bar', etc., etc.

They seem like doppelgangers, Handy

the bars are much cheaper but less easy to see odds and evens.

It makes sense to get some kind of bars too or cusenaire

We have cusenaire rods here. I have done sweets in a paint pallet when dd2 was in Y1. Now need to help her with times tables, number facts and fractions she gets really rigid and uncompromising under pressure slam feeling under pressure to come up with something effective. Gulp.

ds is still not talking either, Starlight. Am doing a lot of messing about with language and sounds. He has virtually no consonants. and not much variety in vowels, either. Am working a lot on getting him to imitate single sounds (if I chatter away and then ask him to say something, he just gives a nervous giggle; am having alittle more success with single sounds). HIs understanding is generally good (although in reality I have no idea, really - dd1 was miles behind, dd2 miles ahead, so I have no 'normal' to use as a benchmark). He can follow simple directions (eg 'give the ball to dd2'), will quite happily drop everything and toddle off to the dining room if I say 'oh, time for lunch/to have somethng to eat/are you hungry?' and is keen to get us naming objects and pictures in books etc (although no decent point as yet). so he appears to eb taking in language, just not producing any. I am suspecting oral dyspraxia or similar, as he just doens't move his mouth/facial muscles properly at all. time will tell - I have his paed assessment on the 7th Feb.

Although snap cubes are useful, because the whole point of bridging through 10 is that you're using some of your second number to bump your first number up to 10, so you need to be able to see that you're splitting the number into two parts.

No it's not, NewBlueCoat. I can meander onto language oddities any time you want.

DD2 has the SALT who specialises in social communication disorders coming in on 29th January. I'm quite scared because if she doesn't spot anything I'll be up the creek without a paddle.

We like snap cubes for continuing a pattern and sequencing.

How did you get a paed for the 7th? I'm still waiting. Suspect the request was thrown out when it reached PCT panel. Asked my GP and he just said 'who referred you?' to which I replied 'YOU' and he then told me to be patient.

You're all so nice.

Newbluecoat (I so wish you used your old name...It still feels odd) have you tried smearing something yummy around his mouth to see if he can move his tongue around to lick it off, etc.?

Star I'm sorry, it's no laughing matter, but I did chuckle at the thought of you having that conversation with the GP.

Lougle It doesn't happen very often, but on the few occasion the poster presented themselves that had stories that didn't quite sound sensible, people were kind, but very straight about it.

Unless one of us has recently said to you that we think everything you post about dd2 is absolutely 'nt' then you probably do have to pursue this.

You've known many of us for a long time. Sometimes we can disagree quite strongly on things. I don't think many of us are unafraid of saying things as we find them.

Your dd is amazing to me. She is astute, can self-reflect, can share with you anything that is going wrong with her day, with her school and with her thinking and there is no doubt that she is intelligent. BUT, it is clear to me as anything that she need help to ensure she learns the skills she will need to use her talents and to address her difficulties.

Do you all want to hear DD1's answers to her Annual Review questions?

lougle, don't panic. IF (and it's a big IF) the SALT doesn't see anything (or, more likely doesn't see quite enough to give a full picture) it doesn't mean there's nothign to see. you know your dd2 best, and you knw somethign is not as it should be.

Star - no idea how it came thorugh so quickly. saw the hv in December, who agreed to send off referral, but waved me off saying she'd probably see me in 6 weeks or so, as paed services have been outsourced, and she wasn't convinced that ds met criteria (which she wasn't clear on, given newness of outsourcing) - it was only family history which tipped th balance, really, given ds' age. then about 10 days ago I was wondering how the referral was going, and decided if I hadn't heard anythign by the end of Jan I would go back to hv (who was happy to escalate it if we were turned down). the next day I got a phonecall to book in for the appt. even at this point I was thinking more along the lines of getting onto the 6 month waiting list - I nearly fainted when they said 7th Feb!

Thanks Star.