Beyond Consequences by Heather Forbes is fab. She's an adoptive mom and a clinical psychologist so is covering extreme parenting from both angles!

Thanks - that's really helpful, especially the stuff about the manipulatives. I do have the MUS manipulatives and also the delta series. Do you know which series he covers negative numbers in as DD got on really well with MUS when we did the delta series together a few months ago... Yesterday they were multiplying out brackets in algebra and she did a whole page correctly - I was SOOOO pleased especially when she said 'It's so easy'. I've NEVER heard her say anything about maths was easy before. Let's hope she gets negative numbers as easily when i put my hard hat on and give it another go with her!

DD (13) has struggled with maths since starting high school 2 years ago (we are in the uk). She has visual processing difficulties and recently diagnosed with ADHD but generally keeps up academically (and sometimes does very well). Since starting on concerta and a very low dose of risperidone, her general learning, including maths, has come on in leaps and bounds. Last year (before the meds), she really could not 'get' negative numbers - we tried using vertical and horizontal number lines as well as good old fasion maths 'rules'. This term (semester?) they are learning algebra and she is , for once, really getting it and even enjoying it BUT the lack of understanding with negative numbers is really holding her up she really doesn't get that -4 + 12 is 8 and that is the same as 12 - 4...I'm stumped (and I'm a maths teacher!) but really need to do some remediation with her so that she can keep flying through algebra...any ideas?

Thank you - this is very interesting info! I did in fact look at the possibility of NVLD last summer before the ed psych report but I ruled it out because she didn't really show all of the features...She is very sociable and does have lots of friends, though she does fall out and get bored of them quite quickly. She is not actually too bad at basic algebra for the very reason you have suggested - she can pick up rules quite easily but has no real understanding. She learnt her tables very quickly and easily aged 8, but using and applying these skills is tough - she doesn't get fractions or how she can use her tables facts to help her with fractions or even that fractions and tables are related! In fact I think that her ability to see patterns generally in maths is fairly non existant but because she can learn procedures, she does have areas of ability. There are now just too many procedures for her to remember when she can't see the connections. Compounding this problem is the UK curriculum which is heavily focussed on problem solving and using and applying! When she was assessed for ADHD, she was given a Qeeg. This showed that she had irregular beta waves in the frontal lobe and some differences in the posterior (can't quite remember without looking it up). Birth family definitely displayed ADHD type symptoms, but as you know, comorbid conditions are very common. I will definitely read up again on NVLD. I love the games you suggested, but unfortunately getting DD to engage would be like pulling teeth. Finally she has moved from hyper to hypo - no motivation for anything even though she is a very talented athlete (gross motor skills are great but fine motor is also shot to pieces) Anyway really helpful - thank you

Hello - new to posting here but often read as you all seem so knowledgable. I'm in the UK and not a home educator - and actually work in education as a primary maths advisery teacher, but hope you won't hold that against me! I have a 13year old adopted DD. I adopted her when she was almost 8 and to cut a very long story short, she functioned very well at primary school - though before her behaviour stabilised in care at age 6.5, there were concerns of learning disablities but then learnt to read in about 4 months - from a non reader to slightly above average! Anyway at primary she functioned at high average across the board and average in maths. Since atsrting at high school (nearly 2 years ago now), things have deteriorated so that now she is average across the board but falling far far behind in maths...in fact i would say that she's gone backwards in maths - she really understands very little now. She has recently been diagnosed with ADHD and just started on concerta but it's too early to comment on it's impact though early indications suggest improvement in focus and less impulsive behaviour - but nothing too dramatic. I also had her assessed by an educational neuropsychologist and these are her WISC IV scores Verbal Comprehension subtests Perceptual Reasoning Subtests Similarities 11 Block Design 5 Vocabulary 10 Picture Concepts 13 Comprehension 8 Matrix Reasoning 8 Working Memory subtests Processing Speed subtests Digit Span 9 Coding 9 Letter-Number Sequencing 10 Symbol Search 10 This has given her FSIQ of 94, Verbal comprehension 98, perceptual reasoning 92, working memory 97, processing speed 97. As well as this, she was given a maths age of 9years 8 months and a standardised score of 76 which apparently is out of synch with her IQ and a Perceptual quotient score of 75 - I already new that her visual perception was shot pieces. As you have already read, I am a specialist primary maths teacher myself, but have no idea of how to go about remediating maths for my daughter when up until 2 years ago, she was keeping up fine! I would love any advice anyone could shed on this! Thank you