Mathematics for Dyslexics and Dyscalculics, 4th Edition

5Concept of Number

Introduction

When a child has problems learning the basic facts of number, then his problems may be compounded by his consequent failure to develop an understanding of the values and interrelationships of numbers. Of course, it does not automatically follow that a child who successfully rote learns the basic facts will develop an understanding of numbers. It is important that any child should develop a ‘feel’ or ‘facility’ for number, that is, he needs to learn:

• A sense of the size or value of a number (Berch, 2005).
• A recognition of the other numbers which it is near to.
• How near a number is to other numbers, particularly the key/core numbers such as one, two, five, ten, twenty, fifty, hundred, thousand and so on.
• Whether the number is larger or smaller than other numbers, and by roughly how much.
• The relationship of the number to key/core numbers, which infers an understanding of the operations and their effect.

For children with dyslexia/dyscalculia/learning difficulties in mathematics, the development of this last facility is a likely alternative route for coping with the memory demands of early numeracy as suggested in the NRC’s Key Finding 2 (Bransford et al., 2000). An early failure to learn basic number facts from memory or by using efficient strategies can keep them from the range and quality of experiences needed to develop number concept. Of course, memorising the basic facts does not guarantee the development of a concept of number, so the compensatory ...