Sunday, 28 June 2009

Resources for Primary School Teachers

It's holidays at last and we hope that you get some well deserved rest.
Thank you to the many people that sent e-mails and comments regarding the article on dyscalculia. It was great to get such positive feedback.
This week I have included another website that offers free lesson worksheets and ideas for primary school children. There are far too many to tell you about so click on the link below and check it out for yourself or add it to your favourites list.
http://www.primaryresources.co.uk/index.htm
Don't forget to let me know if you have any great websites or articles that would be of benefit to teachers.

Saturday, 13 June 2009

Maths Disorder - DYSCALCULIA

I have just recently been made aware of this disorder and when I have spoken to other teachers many of them had not heard of it, so I thought that it would be great to write about it on my blog.
Dyscalculia is generally very similar to Dyslexia, but for numbers. People with Dyscalculia generally have great difficulty with the most basic aspects of numbers and arithmatic. Dyscalculia is often due to visual-spatial difficulties ( making sense of what the eye sees) and language processing difficulties ( making sense of what the ear hears).
They mix up mathematical symbols and similar looking digits are muddled: 6,9,3,8. They have difficulty planning problems and experience difficulty with complex thinking.
There are many other symtoms but not all of them may be displayed when considering if a child has Dyscalculia.
(From article by Eden Pringle-Remedial Teacher's Association)
To find out more about this disorder, go to the following links:
http://www.dyscalculia.org/calc.html
http://www.learninginfo.org/dyscalculia-symptoms.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyscalculia