Math is a cumulative learning subject, one concept building upon another. Children with dyscalculia can often keep up with their class for the first one or two years, but they get by using shortcuts, such as using their fingers to count and don’t develop the building blocks necessary to keep up the pace with other students. They don’t acquire the basic number sense most of their classmates do; their understand is more usual, not number sense related. They may start to count late, struggle to count backwards; have difficulty composing and decomposing numbers and understanding number patterns; forget math facts (e.g. multiplication tables); struggle with math notation and procedures; copy numbers in random order; have trouble remembering phone numbers, deadlines, dates, have extreme difficulty with word problems; can’t determine if their number makes sense- in the question or in the answer; and often choose the wrong operation. They seem to get it one day but can’t do it the next.

Dyscalculia students require structured, multi-sensory training. We need to retrain the brain with hands-on activities. Sometimes this means going back to 1st grade basics, even in 6th or 7th grade. Once students see the benefit, they accept it. In dyscalculia training, we will divide time between their current classroom tasks and catching up with the basics. Working with a student one-on-one is most effective. We want to grow the child’s self-confidence and provide a positive experience, so they