Dear Teachers Q & A
Understanding Addition and Subtraction Concepts
Question: My third grader was still having problems with basic addition and subtraction at the end of second grade, even though he had extra assistance at school. Is there any way I can help him now?
Answer: Children need to be able to recall basic facts quickly and automatically. Usually, by the end of second grade, most students have automatic recall of not only the addition facts, but also the subtraction facts that they are expected to know. Mastery of a fact means giving the response in less than three seconds or 30 correct per minute. However, this is for an oral response, and more time may be needed by young children. Being able to complete 50 problems in three minutes is definitely a reasonable goal.
Fortunately, you can help your child adopt strategies to help him learn the basic facts fairly easily. Work on this now, whether he is in regular or online school. Before you begin teaching number strategies, observe which numbers your child cannot add automatically. These are the ones you want to help him learn.
Don’t confine teaching a strategy to just flashcards; use dice, spinners, coins, markers, and simple games. Move slowly. Begin by working with the “one-more-than” (3+1). Then go on to doubles (2 +2) and (3+3). For example, for the problem (3+1), he can lay out three items and then add a fourth. Having him use a strategy like this ensures that he is solving the problem. Doing this repeatedly will help him learn each fact rather than telling him or showing him an answer.
Visit DearTeacher.com and look at the Math Skill Builders and the Math Learning Activities for more ideas on teaching the basic facts.
Free Books to Assist Learning Disabled
Parents: Here is a good source for children and adults who cannot read traditional print books because they have a visual impairment, physical disability or severe learning disability. The source is Bookshare.org, an ebook library of more than 800,000 books that makes reading easier. Individuals with reading barriers can customize their experience and read in ways that work for them. With Bookshare books become accessible because they can be read by:
- Listening to books with high-quality text-to-speech voices.
- Hearing and seeing highlighted words on screen.
- Reading with digital braille or enlarged fonts.
- Reading directly from your internet browser.
This great program is totally FREE; however, individuals must qualify to participate in it. Children who struggle with reading and have an IEP or a 504 plan can be signed up for Bookshare providing documentation a competent authority confirms that the learning disability significantly interferes with reading. Children and adults with low vision blindness and some physical disabilities can also participate by showing a competent authority confirms their disability interferes with reading.
On the Bookshare.org website, you can access a number of brochures and flyers to learn more about the many ways to read Bookshare books. There are also helpful video tutorials, as well as additional resources, for parents and students.