2E - for those with children who don't learn math procedurally, what did you do?

[FairProspects]

So long division is the new telling time around our house. Time & money were huge stumbling blocks for ds around age 7, I basically ignored them in math books for 2 years and one day he woke up telling time to the minute and doing long multiplication money problems without a hitch. His dyslexic processing glitch with math is that he really struggles to remember procedures but is otherwise a math whiz.

 

What do I do about long division then? Not worry about it? Teach it differently? Ds actually verbalized this morning that his dyslexia was getting in the way and he is begging to do more logic/math and less arithmetic. How do I balance or deal with this? Long division is a huge concept, right so how I can I not teach it procedurally or is he likely to just have it click one day like the others? Can I skip it and come back to it or something? Help from those with older 2E kids like mine please!!

[EKS]

Try short division first.  I allowed my son (also with dyslexia) to use short division until he realized that for larger divisors, the long division algorithm was actually more efficient.

[SandyKC]

One thing that may help a great deal is to use a visual or hands-on type of program.  We used the manipulatives with Math-U-See for a visual math learning option, but there are other options too.  There are virtual math manipulatives that might help a lot.  **MathPad and MathPad Plus are two options I recently learned about. We didn't actually use them, but they look like they'd be a good virtual option.  Also, it might help your DS to work with the concepts repeatedly and a lot of parents in my support group like ReflexMath for a great math practice option. 

 

With my DS, he had a lot of math recall problems for the math facts for computational purposes, but understood the higher level math concepts well.  If your child has a documented math disability (Dyscalculia which is like a math form of dyslexia), then he could use a calculator as an accommodation in college.  You might find it beneficial to have your son work with a calculator and see if that helps him.  Otherwise, it is usually a case of needing to drill repetitively for rapid recall of the math facts.

[Heathermomster]

DS initially learned using the partial quotients method. Now, he performs long division the normal way and uses a multiplication chart. For what I consider silly obnoxious numbers, he uses a calculator. For reference, he's an 8 th grader and just started pre-algebra.

[kbutton]

DS initially learned using the partial quotients method. Now, he performs long division the normal way and uses a multiplication chart. For what I consider silly obnoxious numbers, he uses a calculator. For reference, he's an 8 th grader and just started pre-algebra.

 

We did this also. Khan academy has a video about it. We used partial quotient last year (any numbers that could chip away at the total were allowed), and this year, we transitioned to something almost identical to the traditional algorithm. With summer break in between he hardly noticed the transition--I just casually started talking him through it as if it was what we'd done all along. The hated, feared, and intimidating multiplication chart was suddenly fun and friendly also, which helped (I suspect a little vision therapy helped even though his eye issues were minor).

 

What he does now... 8999 divided by 3. He knows that 3 goes into 8 two times, so 3 goes into 8000 at least 2000 times. He writes 2000 on top of the problem, writes 6000 underneath the 8000, and then he subtracts (2999 left). He knows that 3 does not go into 2, so he looks to see how many times it goes into 29. It goes at least 9 times, so it goes into 2999 at least 900 times. He writes 900 on top of the 2000 that's located where we traditionally put the answer, and subtracts 2700 from the 2999. He continues this process until the end. He never has to "bring down" any numbers. It's conceptually sound and deals with all of the numbers the same way the traditional algorithm does. He does have to add his answers on top together, but the place value takes care of itself. For instance, if you end up with a zero for the tens place in the final quotient, it shoes up on its own. Alternatively, you could start by writing the 2000 out on top, and when you put the 900 into the answer, you could erase the zero that's in the hundreds place, and so on, until you have the answer written out without adding all the little answers up.

 

If necessary, you can write the 8999 in place value columns, and you can talk the child through the steps I listed in the last paragraph while crossing out numbers and carrying them to the next column as you go. Kind of like the short division another poster talked about. It's harder to describe though. My son could follow that, but he couldn't really do it. It did help him to see another demonstration even though it didn't become a feasible method for him.

 

Another method that looks really promising is on Education Unboxed. http://www.educationunboxed.com/long_division_1.html

[FairProspects]

Oh, I like this partial quotients idea. It is exactly how ds solves for long multiplication but in reverse. I'm going to have to look up that Khan Academy video. I think this concept will make more sense to him than the traditional algorithm.