Dyscalculia
It should be noted that this section has not been written by a Dyscalculia expert but an experienced Maths teacher who is conducting research into this aspect of Mathematics learning!
However, the PDF below is a Top Ten list of tips for parents of children with Dyscalculia from a well known and recognised expert.
Further reading about Dyscalculia can be found here on the LeafCare website
NB: this takes you to another website and Capacitarpais does not have control over its content.
Additionally the PDF below gives a more academic overview of Dyscalculia from TouchMath.com
Further links to external websites.
A short video - Facts and Myths about Dyscalculia (youtube.com)
What is Dyscalculia? - Symptoms and Diagnosis - Leaf Complex Care (leafcare.co.uk)
Dyscalculia - British Dyslexia Association (bdadyslexia.org.uk)
Dyscalculia Network – Unlocking Numbers
The Dyscalculia Association - Understanding Maths Difficulties. Training and Diagnosis.
Capacitarpais
Dyscalculia is an under researched aspect of Mathematics learning and yet is reportedly affecting up to 1 in 6 learners. Here at Capacitarpais we are conducting our own investigation into aspects of Dyscalculia in order to better understand the impact on learners and subsequently provide more informed advice to parents and mentors.
Part of this investigation involves the development of number of apps (DysCalcAssViz, DysCalcOrder, DysCalcSeq & DysCalcViz) and whilst they are freely available from the App Store, these apps are the subject of an educational research and have not been recommended by any Dyscalculia experts or organisation.
There are many different elements to Dyscalculia and these apps does not attempt to diagnose or make any formal assessment. Tendencies of Dyscalculia exhibited should be treated with sensitivity and caution. If parents are concerned they should raise this with their child's teacher.
Dyscalculia Assistant (DysCalcAss)
The focus of the app is to explore two aspects of a learner's number sense, specifically..
a) Comparing two amounts
b) Subitising to five
The app provides six activities for learners to engage with alongside parents/mentors.
Two of these activities are not aimed at number (Matching Shape Activity & Identifying Pairs of Shapes) but intended to act as a control and comparison to the number based activities.
NB: These activities should be engaged with learners who have reached this stage of learning and NOT used with learners who are not ready or too young for these activities. If parents/mentors are in doubt they should consult their child's teacher. Also these activities should be presented as a "bit of fun" and not in any way as an assessment or such to create an anxiety in the learner. The "ding" and "woohoo" sound effects are aimed at creating fun but parents/mentors may choose how to present these activities in an appropriate manner.
Time settings
Four of the activities engage the learner by showing an image for a short space of time and expect the learner to respond by either matching a shape or number, or in the case of "which is larger", to choose the colour with the highest number of dots. For each of these activities it is recommended that the time for the image to be shown is set so the learner can sufficiently tackle the activity successfully with relative ease to begin with and then to shorten the time to challenge the learner so that the response is made as a reflex rather than thinking.
The default setting is 2 secs but can be raised to 5 secs or reduced to less than a second.
If a learner can quickly respond to the "matching shape" activity but is unable to do so in a similar time frame for the "which is larger" the learner may be exhibiting a Dyscalculia tendency of finding it difficult to recognise and compare size.
NB: The amounts of dots and differences between them can be altered in settings to make it easier or more challenging as appropriate.
Similarly if the learner can quickly complete the "pairs of shapes" activity with relative ease but struggles to complete the "odd one out" activity in the same way they may be exhibiting a Dyscalculia tendency of not being able to recognise and differentiate between small amounts.
This ability to subitise is taken further in the final two activities. The first, challenges the learner to only recognise and match up to values of three, whereas the final activity challenges the learner to subitise to five and to associate these values with the correct numeral. Learners who find this difficult to subitise in a short time-frame and have to rely on counting the dots also exhibit Dyscalculia tendencies.
While further research is being conducted by the academic community it has been suggested that developing subitising skills may help learners in their mental arithmetic. If learners find the activities in the "DysCalcAssViz" app relatively straight-forward then they can be directed to try for themselves independently the activities in Number Bonds Viz an app freely available on the App Store aimed at developing recall of number bonds to 10
DysCalculator
This app has been developed not for diagnosis but for the learner to use as a tool. It has been recognised by educators that while some learners may struggle to develop quick recall of number facts they may well be capable of learning more advanced techniques. For example basic column addition is a process which requires the addition of two digits. The DysCalcViz app supports the learners by providing a visual, numerical and worded representation of a fact which they can use, but unlike simply giving them the answer the learner is encouraged to work independently as well as be provided with a visual representation to help them develop further number sense and encourage an understanding an in time learning the fact.
The effectiveness of this learning tool is under investigation and Capacitarpais hopes to publish results as they become apparent.
DysCalcOrder
This app explores the learners ability to recognise the relative size of a two-digit number and place it in order alongside similar numbers. There are three activities to choose from and each ask the learner to place numbers into a list in the correct order by dragging the numbers into position.
There are two further activities along a similar line with one randomly allocating sequences that may ascend or descend in value. The other also provides randomly selected sequences that can either go up or down but also the numbers differ by more than one.
Again these activities can be played as "a bit of fun" and could well provoke discussion around how you can tell whether a number is bigger or smaller or how you know a particular number must fit in a specific place.
There shouldn't be an emphasis on speed of completion as this may well create anxiety, rather these activities can be used as a catalyst for discussion between the learner and parent/mentor. Through these discussions an appreciation of the learner's understanding can be built up.
DysCalcSequence
This app focuses on memory of a sequence and spotting patterns. There are four activities with different degrees of challenge that can be altered in the information and settings section.
The first two activities involve the learner repeating a sequence of shapes or icons that is built up one by one. Each time the learner is asked to repeat the sequence so far by tapping the appropriate buttons. If the sound is turned up there will be an audible feedback of dings and thuds. With a woohoo rewarding the learner when a full sequence has been completed.
The first activity requires six shapes to complete the sequence whereas the second activity requires a total of twelve icons to be remembered correctly in order.
NB: The activity can be made more challenging by setting the buttons to change position so the learner does not rely on the spatial position of the buttons to be repeated in sequence.
The next two activities involve spotting a pattern. In the first of these the pattern is created by shapes arranged in a circle. One of the shapes is missing and the learner is asked to identify which shape this is.
The repeating pattern is randomly created and may involve a repeating sequence of different sizes.
The final activity asks the learner to identify and correct a repeating pattern of numerals with a sequence arranged in a spiral. The learner is asked to select two numbers they think are in the wrong places by tapping on them (i.e. numbers that have been swapped) and then check to see if they have been correctly chosen.
As in the other apps there is an audible feedback if the sound is turned up.
