Berkshire Mathematics

Suggestions for Remediation

(Tick box if child needs work in a particular area.)

Work on developing the following pre-requisite skills:

classification

matching and one-to-one correspondence

ordering and sequencing

sequential directions

spatial orientation / space organisation

estimation

visual clustering

pattern recognition

deductive and inductive reasoning

visualisation

These skills can be improved through concrete experiences and playing with games such as Simon, Othello, Connect Four, Shut the Box, Mastermind, Battleships, Stratego, dominoes and card games.

Continue work with Cuisenaire rods on addition facts.
(See Number Relationships video)
Continue work on multiplication facts.
(See Number Relationships video)
Look for patterns in facts
e.g. 4+4=8, so 4+5=9 23-10=13, so 23-9=14 etc

in counting e.g. adding 5: 3, 8, 13, 18…..subtracting 5: 58 , 53, 48, 43….

visualisation e.g.

1. Ask the child to close his eyes and ask: What are you wearing?
What colour is it? Is the pocket on the left or right side?

2. Cover a simple Cuisenaire rod problem (e.g. 4+5=9) with a piece of
paper and ask the child to read it from memory, using both colour names and number names for the rods.

3. Draw a geometric shape. Ask the child to examine the shape and describe
it. Then ask the child to close his eyes and repeat the description. Ask him
to draw the shape on an imaginary board with his finger.

4. Write a number (begin with a one digit number) on paper and then ask
him to trace that number, then close his eyes and write this number.

5.Encourage him to hold calculations in his memory while he works on them.

The above activities will strengthen the working memory so that information
can be held “in the mind’s eye” long enough to be worked on.

estimation of quantity and arithmetic operations
e.g. ask the child what he expects the answer will be before
working it out.
when teaching a mathematical idea, the language, the procedure
and the conceptual model of the concept should all be incorporated.
practise forming word problems from given arithmetic equations
e.g. 20-5=15

(the child may say, ‘There were twenty people on a bus. Five got off at the
shops. How many were left?) Ask for a different problem using the word ‘difference’.

When children form their own word problems, they begin to understand
and solve word problems more easily.

extend the vocabulary of mathematics at every opportunity
e.g. use subtract, take away, less than , minus, difference, deduct
when working with subtraction.

Mahesh Sharma is Professor of Education at Cambridge College,
Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA .

He is the Director of the Center for Teaching/Learning of Mathematics.
He edits Focus on Learning Problems in Mathematics, an international and interdisciplinary journal dealing with the learning and teaching of
mathematics, in particular with issues dealing with learning problems
in mathematics such as: dyscalculia, acalculia, mathematics anxiety
and specific learning disabilities in mathematics.
He also writes Math Notebook, a newsletter for teachers and parents.

His Center for Teaching and Learning of Mathematics is affiliated to
Berkshire Mathematics in the U.K. run by Patricia Brazil.
She organises Prof. Sharma’s lectures and courses, and produces videos / DVDs, which are for sale along with the U.S. publications.

Tel: 0118 947 4864 Fax: 0118 946 1574
Email: info@berkshiremathematics.com