11 year old can’t get out of second grade math

[Jyniffrec]

My 11 year old dd has severe dyslexia (so bad she couldn’t actually be tested by the local university- an ophthalmologist diagnosed her). I’ve not made a big deal out of how behind she is because I’ve dealt with other children being slow in math and reading (one of them has a full scholarship in the biggest university in our state). But now she’s 11 and barely reading and can’t seem to move beyond double-digit addition. I’ve had her split between Math Mammoth and Singapore, based upon what she’s capable of and what doesn’t drain her (she tires very easily). We are stuck now. I’ve had my other dyslexic daughter’s math tutor look at what’s going on but he says he can’t help her at that level (he does high school). I’m already paying several hundred dollars a month for outside classes and tutors so I can’t afford outside help for this particular problem. In the past I’ve just skipped over the concept and then revisited it but that hasn’t served us terribly well (although it’s not been disastrous). For those of you who have similar children what has helped? Should I just move on and not stick to the particular curriculum, as I’ve done in the past? Or is there a particularly good approach out there for double digit addition and subtraction that I don’t know about? I really appreciate any ideas!

[Jyniffrec]

1 minute ago, CuriousMomof3 said:

I don't know homeschool curriculum so I have no suggestions there, but a few things that have helped me with similar kids in a classroom setting:

1) Lots of work on subitizing (recognizing dot patterns, and working with 5 and 10's frames) to really build number sense.  

2) Lots of work on place value with either base 10's blocks or money.  I have played so many hours of monopoly with pennies, dimes, and dollar bills instead of the monopoly money.  

 

We’ve done lots of these. It doesn’t seem to stick. We have no shame in using cuisenaire and base 10 blocks well into their teens.

1 minute ago, CuriousMomof3 said:

3) Skipping it, and moving on to multiplication and division, which some kids find easier and can reinforce the subitizing piece, and then coming back to it when their number sense is stronger.

4) Using a calculator, and focusing on other skills, like determining which operation to use for word problems.  

 

These are where I’m leaning. I’ve already had her start watching Multiplication stories (can’t remember what the curriculum is called). Thank you for reminding me.  And the calculator could be very helpful. 🤔

[Heathermomster]

My eldest is diagnosed 2e with maths/reading/writing SLDs.  We used Ronit Bird materials.  She sells ebooks that work with the iPad; however, I used Overcoming Difficulty with Number prior to the ebooks becoming available.

http://www.ronitbird.com/

[Jyniffrec]

I remember Ronit Bird from a long time ago! I will go back and look at her stuff again. Thanks for the reminder!

[PeterPan]

Yes, Ronit Bird. Also, it seems like you need to be triaging. Being able to do the work of a calculator (multi-digit anything) is unimportant. Most people do single and double digit math in their head, so ideally she can do that. After that, hand her a calculator. She needs to be doing fractions and multiplication. If she has done the Dots ebook from Ronit Bird, she can be taught positive/negative numbers using her Turnovers game, free in her Games ebook. 

For fractions, we started with the RightStart fractions puzzle, which is FINALLY available again, making fractions using cards and a sort of fraction war game. (you each turn over 2 cards, make a fraction, compare relating it to the pieces of the puzzle)

Ronit Bird's multiplication and fraction ebooks are good as well. I'm not sure why you need the Math Mammoth or Singapore at all. They're a total waste of time for her. If her processing speed is low, then that's why she's fatiguing. Has she had a psych eval? She needs a psych eval and you need those numbers. My dd's processing speed was so low I CRIED when I found out. It explained a LOT. So you need psych evals, documentation, paper trail, and you need that data.

Because her processing speed is probably very low, it is highly inappropriate to do anything that is bogging her down unnecessarily. I did the Lakeshore Learning kits for multidigit addition and subtraction with my ds, doing 2 problems written each day. Just 2. Not a whole page or a curriculum. And now that he has done it, no more, now he gets a calculator. With my dd, oh my, that low processing speed just made things bog. So don't do it. If she knows how in theory and has done it a little, hand her a calculator and move on.