Counting by numbers
Is dyscalculia, the innumerate cousin of dyslexia, more prevalent than we think? Maths guru Jane Emerson dispels a few mathematical myths...
component of every test your child will take for the first 11 years of their academic life. However, mention the subject to non-mathematical children and their parents, and watch them shudder. Some may just be bad at maths, others may have been unlucky enough to have an uninspiring teacher, but for others there will be underlying causes, which today is called dyscalculia, not disimiliar to its better known cousin dyslexia and which is believed to be caused by specific brain differences in the parietal lobe. Dyscalculia is an umbrella term used to refer to various conditions that cause specific difficulties with maths. Some prominent cognitive neuro scientists have found evidence that the parietal lobe of the brain is the area where numerical information is processed. Developmental dyslexia is a condition that affects the ability to acquire mathematical skills. Dyscalculic learners may have difficulty understanding simple number concepts, lack an intuitive grasp of numbers and have problems learning number facts and procedures. Even if they produce a correct answer or use a
Maths
is a critical part of the curriculum, an important
correct method they may do so mechanically and without confidence. Even young babies have an understanding of maths “number sense”. Research suggests that they are born with a sense of quantity, and are interested in the concept of numbers, and counting, including addition and subtraction. Even very young babies spend longer looking at a small number of objects if another one is added. Even better, if their mother adds a few “oohs” and “aahs” to a game of hide and seek
with brightly coloured buttons, for example, to
keep the baby interested. This is the beginning of
learning about numbers and is rapidly accompanied at the play school age with lessons on quantity; four is less than five, for example, and in understanding that, words
like more and less, bigger and smaller, before and after relate to quantity. In this way, they develop a sense of the “fourness of four” rather like they come to know about the concept of yellow. Children with a good rote
memory will learn, sometimes even before their second birthday, to recite the numbers off by heart
16 FirstEleven Michaelmas 2011
www.firstelevenmagazine.co.uk
without counting objects and as they progress through the early learning stages, to count, whether it’s climbing stairs, buttons or sweeties on the table, a particularly interesting incentive. Some four year- olds can even link number words to their symbols and begin to understand that each number refers to a certain quantity. Throughout this stage, parents can develop a
child’s love of counting by moving them subtly and gently forward so that the concept of counting stairs can be used to introduce them to counting in sets of ten or “ten more”. Children enjoy lining up counters or buttons in rows of ten and those with good number sense begin to see how many items they have without counting them one by one just as one can with an abacus. This helps children to see, without counting, how many beads have been moved from one side to another. From here, they will progress to number bonds
and tables of multiplication and later to learn about place value: where the value of a digit is in fact determined by its position or place in a number. But what happens if a child is not progressing
according to expectations? What if they have not developed a sense of number and cannot count well? If the basics have not been mastered, the child is being set up to fail well before they enter any examination room. Some may struggle owing to a poor memory,
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