Strategies
Mathematical Language
Symbols
Mathematical symbols can cause confusion. Children with Sp.L.D. who have directional problems when reading from left to right will be even more confused in maths where "division" is worked from left to right but "addition", "subtraction" and "multiplication" are worked from left to right. Putting small directional arrows will help them to remember where to start and using exercise books with "boxes" will also help them to lay their work out neatly and make calculations involving place value easier. They should also head columns with Hundreds, Tens and Units and should be encouraged to talk themselves through the computation so they do not inadvertently put the numbers in the wrong columns.
Terminology
Maths has its own language and this can be at the root of many problems. Generated mathematical terminology with words like "perimeter", "value" and "equals" may be unfamiliar. It is interesting to ask a class to define the word "equals" and discover the many different replies, perhaps most commonly that it means "answer". These words all need to be clearly understood before they can be used in calculations. To complicate matters further, one single mathematical process can be described with a wide variety of terms. For instance, "multiply", "times", "product of", or "add", "increase", "plus", "sum" and "total".
The continuity and flexibility of language and approaches are extremely important and it is essential that the teacher is aware of which maths methods and language the student has experienced and can expect to experience, as he progresses through school. Does the language used by the teacher match the textbooks? Close liaison between home and school is extremely important and meetings between class teachers and parents, for discussion of consistency of methods and subject specific language is recommended.
Operations
Since the central problem is likely to be that of relating symbols to the operations which they represent, it is good sense that students should be able to carry out the operations first, using structured materials, and only secondly be shown how to describe symbolically what they have been doing. Students with dyslexia are better at "doing" than at "naming" and a foundation of "doing" is essential. The great advantage of using structured materials is that they ensure that "doing" comes first and "naming" afterwards. If the order is reversed, one is essentially confronting dyslexic students with a mass of bewildering symbols and technical terms, not providing them have any clear idea of what they are supposed to do with them. Once the necessary foundations have been acquired by "doing", however, then the abstract reasoning, the generalisations and the discoveries should follow.
Concrete materials which are recommended for students with learning difficulties at the primary and high school level include Cuisenaire Rods and Dienes Multibase Arithmetic Blocks. Dyslexia students with Sp.L.D. may have to rely on concrete materials for a longer period of time than their peers since they often find it difficult to memorise number bonds. Showing them how to use a number line can spend work up considerably.
When teaching maths to dyslexic children, the principles of multisensory teaching (visual, auditory, tactile-kinaesthetic) which apply to language work, also apply to the mathematics field. For example. when introducing new mathematical concepts and processes use verbal explanations, diagrams, concrete materials and pictures. This could be followed by asking the student to explain the process and instructions, in his own concept has been thoroughly mastered and understood before moving on to the next step. A checklist is often the simplest way of doing this.