Free Essay About Special Education

Dyscalculia is a problematic and well-known issue among kids and teenagers. Though it is a very popular, it still makes a list of discussion among scholars, psychologists, and just parents as well. Since this issue is extremely controversial, more and more scholars and psychologists are discovering it in order to make it more understandable.
Dyscalculia is a condition which makes it difficult to deal with numbers. In other words, children who suffer from dyscalculia have problems with understanding math concepts. They know what exactly to do, but they don’t understand how to do it and how to use it out of the school. The scholars have discovered that from 3% to 5% of the population has this condition. Moreover, plenty of children, who suffer from dyscalculia, can have issues such as ADHD or dyslexia.
In order to teach a child to deal with dyscalculia, a teacher has to be an expert in this particular area and provide the child with special strategies and even equipment. The important points of these strategies it that a teacher can allow a child to use a calculator and give some additional time. The most significant thing is to make the child feel comfortable and confident in using numbers.
There is, also, a special program Response to intervention which gives children extra help. The point of this program is organization of small groups or individual instructions either within or out of the course. This program doesn’t need extra effort or preparation from the teacher’s side. It just requires more additional attention to children who have dyscalculia. The other step which can be done both from the rent’s side and from the teacher’s side is keeping a journal. Observation and evaluation are key items in a parent-teacher cooperation concerning the help with child’s dyscalculia.
However, there are some traditional strategies which are applied to the children. The most understandable one is using exact example which relate to the reality. To these strategy we can name sorting buttons, pictures, chair, etc. – so that a child can find it familiar for him/her. It creates an understanding of the numbers can be applied in a real world and draw a logical connection in the head. This strategy can be used both by a teacher at school and a parent at home for getting better result.
One of the most significant and helpful strategies is using manipulatives. Manipulatives are visual aids which are using when there is a problem which is to be solved. To these manipulatives we can name drawing some pictures, making a graph/ pie/bar/line, moving around some real objects. A teacher can, also, give an additional piece of paper for the test. The children will cover the rest of the task so that they can focus on the only task. This simple step increases the productivity of the children during the test.
Talking about organizing time of the lesson for children with dyscalculia, there is a strategy which can be used as well. First, the lesson should be divided into smaller parts so that it will be more manageable for kids to understand it. Second, the more time can be given when it’s needed for the children so that no one feels too much exhausted or overloaded. Third, a teacher should pay more time (in comparison to ordinary classes) for repetition of the material.
For children who suffer from dyscalculia it’s significant to feel satisfaction and even happiness. To achieve this goal, we can play games with them by involving some kinesthetic activities and connecting them with teaching math. By using this strategy, we combine some energetic activities and realization of math in the real world.
Moreover, self-assessment takes an important part in teaching math children with dyscalculia. They should question themselves if they have understood the problem in a correct way. By asking themselves, they find out not only if they understand the problem, but also what can be missed there, how this problem can be solved and what formulas or rules should be applied to the task.