Mental block???

[Meg888]

My daughter has dyspraxia and is really struggling in school at the mo. She is in her final school year and so got the dreaded exams coming up next year. I asked her school for some worksheets to do at home so that I could help her on her maths as this subject is particularly difficult for her.

It was written work and started with basic stuff, counting up in 1's i.e. 1, 2, 3 etc. then in 10's, 10, 20 etc. she was fine with this until it got to counting up in tens in sequence of 34, 44, 54 etc - she was completely stuck, she simply couldn't figure it out. Even when I showed her how to work it out on paper (obviously, by adding it up) she kept getting them wrong - she was convinced the next number should have been 65, 75 & so on. She could only seem to cope with round figures. And then when it went from 90 something into 100's again, this completely threw her. I was baffled, as something that appears so simple to most of us was really very difficult for her. I found it interesting in how she could not work out anything other than round figures, but very worrying, how is she supposed to cope under the pressure of an exam?

[bednobs]

hiya, what is she predicted in her exams? TBH i would think anyone who needs practice at counting "1,2,3" probably wont pass a gcse in maths anyway, and if ot's going to cause her stress, perhaps she ought not to set her sights so high?

[bookbinder]

Maybe a specialist maths tutor (evenings, weekends) might be able to help?

[sherrardk]

Speak to the SENCO or exam officer at the school to see if she is eligible for extra time, etc.

[Philoctetes]

I am no expert, but it seems to me that your daughter has not had the basic concept of counting explained to her in terms that make sense to her. Do the worksheets deal in "Hundreds, Tens, and Units"? If the basis for each column has not been clearly explained, then there is absolutely no logical way anyone can understand why 34+10=44 (I think a large proportion of people still do that sort of sum by counting rather than adding). Dyspraxia is often a question of needing to understand in greater depth, finding the answer to that most irritating of questions, "Why?", until it finally clicks. I think the suggestion of a specialist teacher is the way forward.
Good luck

[Prudie]

I'd agree with a specialist teacher and if her dyspraxia has been professionally assessed she should get extended time in exams. On a negative note if you mean final year as year 11 with GCSE's next year I can't imagine she will pass maths if she can't cope with counting at that level. I presume this is for the non-calculator paper? She really should have had extra help long before this.

[sandyRoe]

Could physical things like counters or blocks help someone associate the actual number of things with their numeric representations?

[factor-fiction]

An abacus may help here

[factor-fiction]

How old is your daughter. I'm not sure if the dreaded exams are Year 11 GCSEs or Year 6 SATS

[Mosaic]

from the description I'd say Year 6 and I think you mean dyscalculia in this instance, rather than dyspraxia?
I am a little that way out myself - can cope with 2s, 5s and 10s but numbers inbetween get me.
If you can get a proper statement of her need ('statemented') she will then become entitled to additional help ie her schools might be given funds to employ a teaching assistant to help her.
This should also mean when push comes to shove she gets extra time in exams.

[factor-fiction]

I think it's probably Year 6, but there were some responses that referred to GCSEs so I started to wonder.

[bednobs]

"She is in her final school year and so got the dreaded exams coming up next year"
final schoo year = gcse year

[sherrardk]

Hi Bednobs - if she is in year 6 of primary school (the last year) she will doing her SATs in May of 2013 so it could be either.

[Mosaic]

Like wot sherrard said.
Unlikely to be 'counting in tens' at year 11 / GCSE.
At KS4 should be dealing with mch more complex problem-solving and mathematical / graphical stuff.
Quadrilateral equations etc.

[bednobs]

well then completely ignore my first answer to this post!

[Prudie]

On a couple of previous questions meg refers to her teen daughter which is why I think it's a bit late if we're talking GCSEs.

[Meg888]

Hi folks, thanks for replies and apologies for late response - it has been a hectic week.

She is in year 11 taking GSCE's. She was diagnosed as dyspraxic 4 yrs ago and has had a statement since yr 3 for maximum help (up to 15 hours) in school. As always, this has been a problem as school 'share' the help and we've been at loggerheads with them many times over the years over progress. They predicted a 'G' pass earlier this year for GCSE's, however, in an exam she took in June, she was ungraded. Hence we now have the worksheets from school to try and help her. It's all a bit disappointing as we have 6 monthly meetings and they've always said she meets her targets, however, in the last meeting (March) it was all negative stuff, we were not happy and said we felt they'd been box ticking all these years just to get the funding for special needs teaching. We found out that none of her teachers were actually aware of what her condition was, just that she needed help. After several meetings with a new headmaster, we've got a few of the not so important lessons in the curriculum scrapped in favour of extra english and maths, and also extra homework. I've decided to make an appointment with her peadatrician to see if they can explore this further, so that if all else fails at school - she may get specialist help in college, as they have to provide her with an education until she is 25 due to her having a statement.