[SENco-forum] Maths

A wonderfully clear explanation.

They're not.

My last reading of the Primary National Curriculum recommended knowledge of 
the tables up to 10, but never mentioned 11 or 12.

Is this something forced on KS3?

Tim Rupp.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "SEN Marketing" <sen.marketing at dsl.pipex.com>
To: <SEN at tringham.net>; "'Becta Senco'" <senco-forum at lists.becta.org.uk>
Sent: Monday, September 24, 2007 4:11 AM
Subject: RE: [SENco-forum] Maths - but not as we know it

>A wonderfully clear explanation.
>
> But why are schools required, in the decimal era, to teach the 11 and 12
> times tables?
>
> I regularly calculate sums using fives and tens and occasionally use sums
> from other tables, but I can't remember when I last used the 12 let alone
> the 11 times tables.
>
> Colin
>
> SEN Marketing.
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: senco-forum-bounces at lists.becta.org.uk
> [mailto:senco-forum-bounces at lists.becta.org.uk] On Behalf Of
> SEN at tringham.net
> Sent: 24 September 2007 09:38
> To: Becta Senco
> Subject: RE: [SENco-forum] Maths - but not as we know it
>
> Dyscalculia is the inability to see/feel number.  Apparently babies can
> differentiate between random or clustered dots in small numbers whereas
> those with dys can't. There is no difference in 'odd' or 'even' for them 
> and
> if coupled with left/right, up/down or bigger/smaller, sequencing issues
> whether  abc or 123, or chuck in the dyslexic favourite the reversal of 
> 2/5
> or 9/P and you have real problems.
>
> Estimating is another skill that is usually missing and has to be
> explicitly taught.  Just as some cannot see if a spelling is right or 
> wrong,
> others cannot see if an answer is not only right/wrong but even in the 
> right
> ball park. How can you guess how many dots when 5 6 7 8 9 dots all look 
> the
> same and even if you think there is less than 10 which one is less than 7
> when you cannot work up or down.
>
> Which number is bigger    2 or 5 ?   Neither they are both the same size
> (ARIAL 12) and that is how some children see number.  Using 'more than'
> won't help either without lots of input.
>
> Even on a good day most of the pupils I have seen (with likely dyslexia or
> STM problems) break down at 'f' in the alphabet in line with the seven 
> items
> a brain should be able to hold momentarily before 'dropping' one (or 
> more) -
> so counting to 10 is not bad. The worse the auditory or visual memory the
> worse the problem. With dyscalculia who knows - jury still out on what it 
> is
> & what causes it.
>
> On the positive side I made some dot pattern pairs (some free work sheets
> are on the internet), worked with dice and dominoes to try and anchor the
> name to the number and give it some sort of feel.  We played estimating
> games. All these lower level skills that I had assumed had been learned or
> acquired automatically were missing even though the student was Y6.
>
> For him we were trying to complete a multiplication square. He put in the
> known ones (0 1 2 3 -with difficulty- 5 10 11) then we reversed facts to
> complete 8x 2 as well as 2 x8. This left a messy block of 6,7,8,9 that we
> used finger manipulation for i.e. 9 times, but also 6,7 + 8's)  Confidence
> growing we moved onto 12's.  We learned 5x 12= 60 and 10x12 =120 then 
> looked
> at the start point of 1x12 =12and that the units were alternate (not even)
> 2 4 6 8 and the tens were sequential 1234 until the learned 5x12=60 before
> starting again 72,84 96 108 to 120.  That left 2 to learn by memory or
> finger counting on.
>
> It is important to make sure the early skills are in place as bright
> children with problems will come unstuck - just further down the line.
> Currently wrestling with decimal place - all that going left or going 
> right,
> and I am not looking forward to fractions!
>
> As for the boy who can only count from 1 it is probably because he as 
> always
> had numbers counted to him starting from one.   Counting on (or back) is
> really hard for those with dyscalculia.  Play games help them not to count
> the square they are standing on as '1', but to move to the next square and
> count from there.  We saw my daughter demonstrate this inability to count 
> on
> as a small child, but we never thought it would cause any problems, just
> that she was a bit 'dappy'.  When faced with a number line that should 
> have
> helped her she did the same thing and thus couldn't count on.  For someone
> with a 135 IQ you would think the problem was not insurmountable, but
> dyscalculia is no respecter of brain power!
>
> Even eventually overcoming this she could transfer new info elsewhere   so
> although 5+6 =11 it was no help to her when trying to work out 15 +6 !
> mental math just caused a mental breakdown.  The teacher said  17 + 9 and
> she heard  'La la la   blerp doop' thus demonstrating nicely the APD 
> aspects
> that she also has.  It was probably more frustrating than the aspects of
> visual based dyslexia that we wrestling with another daughter in that 
> there
> were no teachers clued into the math angle.  They could not fix what they
> could not see.  On recently has there been lots of info on math being
> affected by APD and or dyslexia or the newer dyscalculia ( and yes it is
> possible to have either, both or all three!)
>
> Good news is that she has just scrapped a C at GCSE, but for those without
> the high IQ for extra support the outlook is grim unless the right
> strategies are in place.  There are a couple of good books out there on
> dyscalculia (full of strategies) and like APD/dyslexia strategies they
> usually  work for those with GLD as well (they just get it quicker!)   Try
> these:
>
> Butterworth,B & Yeo, D (2004) Dyscalculia Guidance -helping pupils with
> specific learning difficulties in math LONDON:NferNelson Publishing 
> Company
> Limited
>
> Butterworth B, (2004b) Everybody Counts but not everyone understands 
> numbers
> Extracted from the annual Joint British Academy/British Psychological
> Society lecture 16 November 2004 [online]
> http://www.britac.ac.uk/pubs/review/_pdfs/09/06-butterworth.pdf.
>
> DfES (1997-2007)  Mathematics, Dyslexia and Dyscalculia: Frequently Asked
> Questions
> Q2: How do I recognise a child who has dyscalculia? What are the symptoms
> and how does this differ from dyslexia with numbers? [online]
> http://www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/primary/faqs/inclusion/56233/#56734
>
> Sharon Tringham
>
>
>
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