Helping Children with Mathematical Problems

Reasons for Maths Difficulties Institutional/Environmental School/classroom/teacher Language –Both reading and maths involve manipulation of abstract symbols

Reasons for Maths Difficulties Motivational Status of maths in society Position within the class (up to 5 years difference in age-equivalent scores in a single class) Lack of intrinsic motivation

Reasons for Maths Difficulties Neuropsychological Magnitude representation –Non-verbal system to understand quantities –Enables estimations in non-exact way –Also known as internal number line

Reasons for Maths Difficulties Neuropsychological Symbolic representation –Gives semantic meaning to quantities –Provides a tool to perform exact calculations

Reasons for Maths Difficulties Neuropsychological Spatial representation –Clear link –Subitising

Reasons for Maths Difficulties Neuropsychological Memory –Working memory (links to other problems e.g. ADHD) Limited capacity Prone to errors –Long-term memory

How to help Instant Feedback –Computer programs –Peer tutoring Evaluate incorrect responses Encourage cautious children to try new strategies Memory aids for children with working memory difficulties Tackle comorbid literacy problems

The Number Race Open source software: Reinforces link between number sense and symbolic number representations Remediation strategy but also useful for children in early stages of learning arithmetic