Dyscalculia - what parents can do

The most important information

There are usually several reasons for dyscalculia. A child is said to have dyscalculia if they lag behind their peers in their mathematical learning development, make little progress over the years and/or are unable to catch up with the subject matter without customised support. Important findings for children with dyscalculia are

• Dyscalculia has nothing to do with a lack of intelligence.
• Experts point out that several factors contribute to the development of dyscalculia and that the causes do not lie solely with the child.
• The lack of early learning experiences as well as unfavourable teaching materials and teaching methods can have an influence on later dyscalculia.

In general, it is important for parents to know that children with a learning disability are exposed to psychological pressure and therefore run the risk of developing additional symptoms such as morning stomach aches, difficulty falling asleep, sadness, anxiety and behavioural problems.

A very important tip is therefore: The main task of parents is therefore to love and accept their child as they are. Read the full article to find out how parents can best support their children, which factors trigger dyscalculia and which support programmes make the most sense.

Marco comes home from school, throws his schoolbag in the corner and disappears into the children's room without a word. His mum suspects that today's test on the multiplication tables didn't go well. The nine-year-old had spent many hours practising his multiplication tables, and in the evening his parents had tested him on the series again. As a reward, his parents had promised him a visit to an exhibition about dinosaurs, which he is very interested in. Marco is in year 3 of primary school and would actually enjoy going to school if it weren't for maths.

He struggled with numbers right from the start, while he learnt to read and write easily and is already an avid reader - he devours all the books about dinosaurs and knows more about them than any other child in his class.

What is dyscalculia?

In a conversation with the class teacher, Marco's parents are confronted with the possibility that their son's difficulties in maths can be explained by a dyscalculia.

The parents react with great concern, start to inform themselves and come across a large number of sometimes quite contradictory statements on the Internet about dyscalculia.

It is not unusual for children to make slower or more difficult progress in some learning phases; only if the child has persistent and extensive difficulties with arithmetic can this indicate a dyscalculia.

It is not unusual for children to make slower or more difficult progress in some learning phases

On closer inspection, the terms dyscalculia and dyscalculia refer to the same phenomenon, but today the term dyscalculia is preferred.

In recent years, scientific studies have focussed on mathematical learning development and found that children are interested in numbers from an early age.

Long before they start kindergarten, they begin to count, learn the number word series and discover the different aspects of numbers in their environment.

Children ask questions that have to do with numbers: How old am I? How many times do I have to sleep until my birthday? Who will be first in the race? They like to collect objects such as shells, count them and compare them: Who has more?

These experiences form an important basis for recognising the structures of the number system and therefore for learning mathematics at school.

Characteristics of dyscalculia

Studies on mathematical learning show that children who are able to gain varied and playful experience with numbers in kindergarten often become good calculators. Learning to count plays an important role here.

If these basics are missing, learning maths at primary level is difficult, as it is difficult to understand the relationships between numbers and use them for arithmetic. Another hurdle is understanding the structure of the decimal place value system (the «tens system»). Children with dyscalculia therefore resort to pure counting strategies.

Parents make an important contribution by ensuring that the child has the best possible environment.

Counting strategies such as finger counting are used by many children in the first year of school and are gradually discarded as they gain insight into mathematical structures. For children like Marco who have poor arithmetic skills, counting is the only strategy that becomes entrenched; counting arithmetic is therefore considered a key feature of dyscalculia.

Other typical difficulties can be seen in the processing of factual tasks and in the fact that affected children do not acquire central aspects of primary school maths. The lack of basic material makes subsequent learning processes at upper school more difficult.

Little progress over the years

Dyscalculia therefore means that the child lags behind their peers in their mathematical learning development, makes little progress over the years and is unable to catch up with the subject matter without customised support.

Dyscalculia has nothing to do with a lack of intelligence. Experts point out that several factors contribute to the development of dyscalculia and that the causes do not lie solely with the child. The lack of early learning experiences as well as unfavourable teaching aids and teaching methods can have an influence.

What can parents do to support their child?

Many parents seeking help turn to learning institutes and are prepared to pay the fee for their child's support themselves. The quality of the methods on offer varies considerably. For example, perception training and many other advertised concepts have proven to be ineffective.

In Marco's case, the parents seek cooperation with the school and have a discussion with the special needs teacher, a recognised expert in dyscalculia. She takes over the support planning. In general, it is important for parents to know that children with a learning disability are exposed to psychological pressure and therefore run the risk of developing additional symptoms such as morning stomach aches, difficulty falling asleep, sadness, anxiety and behavioural problems.

The main task of parents is therefore to love and accept their child as it is.

These problems jeopardise the child's development far more than a learning disability. The main task of parents is therefore to love and accept their child as they are and to give them the support they need.

Children and young people with learning difficulties do not want their problems to be talked about on a daily basis in the family and do not want progress at school to be the dominant topic. Marco is lucky.

Both in class and at home, he is supported in his development and never devalued because of his dyscalculia. The special needs teacher helps Marco to catch up on any maths learning experiences he has missed.

Don't talk about problems every day

Parents make an important contribution by ensuring that the child has an optimal environment. A quiet workplace and a regulated daily routine that includes both fixed homework times and breaks with the opportunity to play and exercise outdoors are helpful.

Caution is advised when it comes to the question of whether parents should actively support their child with homework on a regular basis. In general, it is a change of role when parents become «assistant or remedial teachers». Many children resist this, and it is reported that this leads to tears and arguments.

Nevertheless, the reality is that active support from parents is agreed, especially in the case of learning difficulties. Marco's parents have considered this step carefully and are convinced that they have the necessary serenity and time.

They meet with Marco for a further discussion with the special needs teacher and agree to supervise his homework for eight weeks. The curative teacher asks them to make sure that Marco uses the same visual aids as in class and explains what is important here and how the parents can best support Marco.

It is not up to the parents to work through the learning material; if they realise during homework that the child has gaps in understanding, this should be reported to the special needs teacher without the child being exposed.

Board games have a positive effect

At the end of the conversation, the curative teacher gives Marco a game that she has made especially for him: the classic Leiterli game with dinosaurs. From now on, Marco regularly plays board games with his parents - all three have fun, and the parents are relieved to see that Marco is also practising his maths skills.

Studies have shown that certain board and card games such as Elferraus, Halli Galli, Stechen and dice games such as Pasch can promote basic mathematical understanding.

Parents are also advised to make use of the many situations in everyday life in which numbers, quantities and patterns occur and to discover these together with their child, e.g. when shopping, in the playground or when setting the table.

These enriching experiences not only strengthen the bond between parents and children, but also awaken their interest and enjoyment of maths.

Recommended reading for scientific consolidation

Moser Opitz, Elisabeth (2013). Dyscalculia: Theoretical clarifications and empirical studies on affected pupils. Scientific standard work on dyscalculia. Benz, Christiane, Peter-Koop, Andrea & Grüssing, Meike (2014). Early mathematical education. Maths learning for three to eight-year-olds. Well-founded overview of early mathematical development.