Math & Grammar Question

[Donna (FL)]

My 14 year old daughter and I are really struggling with math & grammar, She has a learning disability (she was in public school until the middle of 5th grade, 2 1/2 years ago- While in public school she had an IEP). Some examples of her math problems are: She still does not know her multiplication times tables, when she looks at a division problem she forgets how to work it, we have not even started fractions yet - She has a terrible time recalling things. She get's very frustrated with math problems. I was wondering if you could give me any suggestions on what you all are using for these two subjects with your LD child?

[Esther-Alabama]

I think it depends on HOW your child best retains information.

For instance, my oldest is dysgraphic/dyslexic and he has a hard time memorizing things via writing. Like math drills on paper are TORTURE! But, singing the multiplication skip counting tables is easy for him. He learned his times tables via singing and Times Tales program. He has a hard time organizing and remembering steps to things. He also forgets how to work multi-step division problems and so I have set up a mini-office for him to use as an example and to list common formulas for him to refer back to.

I used a large trifold board that I bought at Wal-mart. I have done this for him just for math. One the left fold is conversions like.... ounces in a pound, pints in a quart, quarts in a gallon, pounds in a ton, feet in a yard/mile, and others that tend to stump him. I have them done in picture form. I drew a large bottle and labeled it with cups, pints, quarts, and gallons. The conversions are listed on it and beside it in a table.

The right side is formulas for finding the area of square, rectangle, triangle, parallelogram, trapezoid, etc... Plus, how to work a multi-step addition problem (he forgets the steps), and multi-step substraction problems to use as examples with the directions listed in steps beside each.

The middle is devoted to multiplication and division. I have a 100s table for multiplication. I have examples for multi-step multiplication and division on it, plus the steps listed for each beside the problems.

I also use Math U See for my ds and he has really learned well using the blocks with this program. He can work a very large division problem just by looking at the blocks, but ask him to do it on paper and he completely forgets the steps.

HTH.

[TonyaP]

What is your end goal for the education of this child? Do you feel that the LD can be accomodated for higher learning or is she going to graduate from high school and then move into a vocation? If it's the latter, I would probably switch to a consumer math style curriculum that allows her to learn skills she will need daily. I'd also probably teach her to use a calculator.


If this is a true and permanent limitation, then IMO it's best to learn to work around it. If you feel that it's a matter of finding the right teaching/learning style, then of course, keep trying until you find what clicks.

It kind of depends on the extend of the LD, KWIM?

[Sue C]

My 7 year old has Asperger Syndrome and one of her HUGE disabilities is math. I switched her a few weeks ago to Math-U-See and so far so good. I'll let others chime in but it seems to really help.

Maybe she is missing something also. A basic math principle. Another thing to consider is sometimes our kids may never get the Algebra and Trig. done. You know what? That's ok. The world doesn't need all engineers and mathmaticians!:)

I would go to the Math-U-See website and see where she would place. They have had good success with this with special needs kids. I would drop the fractions and multiplication. In my opinion if she can understand some basics, and use a calculator that might be her best bet. BUT I am not sure where she is at. Check out the site. :group::group: One for you and one for her!!

[Donna (FL)]

Thank you all for your responses to my post, I appreciate it : )

[Laura F]

Do you have any copies of your dd's IEPs from ps? They might provide some helpful info and be a good place to start. A helpful source of info on LDs is the National Institute of Learning Development (http://www.nild.org/parents.asp).