HejKatt Posted March 28, 2013 Share Posted March 28, 2013 Hi everyone, My friend's child is in first grade and is having difficulty at school keeping up with math lessons. The example she gave was this: Suppose the question is 4 + 5 = ? The child solves this by drawing 4 lines, then 5 lines, then proceeds to count each line from the beginning. It's as though he does not recognize that there is no need to recount the quantity represented by the numbers 4, 5. Compounding the problem is that the rest of the class has moved on to adding 2-digit numbers mentally (they have worked on mental addition for most of the school year) and the child realizes his method will not work fast enough with those quantities, and he freezes. I tried searching online, and the closest I could find was "number sense". If I could find a term that described his behavior, it might help in finding corresponding resources to help. Does the above sound familiar to anyone? (BTW I hesitated between posting this on the K-8 board and this board, but ended up posting here because there is reason to believe working memory issues are also in play here). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geodob Posted March 28, 2013 Share Posted March 28, 2013 Hi HejKatt, Quantity is concieved of with Spacial working memory. Spacial w/m can link 2,3 or 4 items together, and instantly recognize the size of each group. This is then associated with a number for each group. But a Spacial w/m disorder, can effect the ability to form and recognize these different sized groups? So that without this, quantities are only concieved of, as 1 or more. 2 is not concieved of as a group, but as the name of the thing next to the thing named 1. This is termed as Dyscalculia. A further indication of this, is a difficulty with 'ordering things in the mind' and following a series of directions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tess in the Burbs Posted March 28, 2013 Share Posted March 28, 2013 Just want to say that both my kids hit a math fact wall about 1st grade age. I thought it was the program with my son but when my dd did it too at the same point in learning facts I realized there is just something they have to get past to truly get those facts. My poor ds did a lot of flash cards and review and eventually got it. And had it well. My dd I was more relaxed and she got past it but never knew her facts as well until I did a lot of drill with her. In hindsight I wouldn't push too hard, just keep doing math and when they have more confidence really drill those facts before moving on to multiplication/division. And the same for those facts. When learned and about to move on to the next thing spend time doing drill to cement them in their heads. But yes, I found there is a math wall about 1st grade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heathermomster Posted March 28, 2013 Share Posted March 28, 2013 The term for maths disorder is dyscalculia. Maybe look at some counting books by Kathy Richardson. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HejKatt Posted March 28, 2013 Author Share Posted March 28, 2013 Thank you, geodob for the helpful description and to everyone for their responses! I had seen the term dyscalculia mentioned on this forum, but when I looked it up on Wikipedia, there were so many symptoms described I wasn't sure. Now I'm off to read all the dyscalculia threads for more info.. thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HejKatt Posted March 28, 2013 Author Share Posted March 28, 2013 Just want to say that both my kids hit a math fact wall about 1st grade age. I thought it was the program with my son but when my dd did it too at the same point in learning facts I realized there is just something they have to get past to truly get those facts. My poor ds did a lot of flash cards and review and eventually got it. And had it well. My dd I was more relaxed and she got past it but never knew her facts as well until I did a lot of drill with her. In hindsight I wouldn't push too hard, just keep doing math and when they have more confidence really drill those facts before moving on to multiplication/division. And the same for those facts. When learned and about to move on to the next thing spend time doing drill to cement them in their heads. But yes, I found there is a math wall about 1st grade. Thanks tess, this will be encouraging for my friend to keep drilling. Right now, she is worried because it feels like her son has years of material to catch up, but it may help her to focus on the big picture, and not lose hope. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tess in the Burbs Posted March 28, 2013 Share Posted March 28, 2013 Thanks tess, this will be encouraging for my friend to keep drilling. Right now, she is worried because it feels like her son has years of material to catch up, but it may help her to focus on the big picture, and not lose hope. Oh she just needs to keep going and having some fun review or math games. Then it clicks. I will say that the xtramath website was fun for my kids. Timezattack was also well received. My ds was so anxious(and still is) b/c I pushed too much with him. But dd is much more positive about math. And I know it's b/c we kept going, having fun with math, but still drilling. Just in a better way. Don't give up hope Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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