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S-21
The child doesn't know which operation to choose in a problem (+, −, ×, ÷)
Type: verbal
What the research says
To master arithmetic operations successfully, a child first of all needs to reach a certain linguistic level. The child must correctly use the words for quantity and order and the conventional terms that name operations. Mathematical definitions are based on the meanings of words and the grammatical connections between them.
Lalaeva R.I. Dyscalculia in Children, p. 14 (2005)
Exercises at home — free
Make up a problem from a diagram
Builds: Reading a problem diagram and making up a problem from it
You need: cards with problem diagrams: rectangles with numbers, arrows, a question mark
- Show a diagram: two rectangles with the numbers 7 and 3, and an arrow to a third one with a question mark.
- Ask: “What's drawn here? What does the question mark mean?”
- Ask the child to make up a problem from the diagram: “There were 7 apples, and 3 more were bought. How many are there now?”
- Discuss: addition or subtraction? How does the diagram show it?
- Offer a second diagram: a rectangle with 9, minus a rectangle with 4, and a question mark.
- The child makes up a problem and solves it.
- Harder: the child draws a diagram for a problem the adult has made up.
Baryaeva L.B., Kondratyeva S.Yu. Dyscalculia in Children, 2013, p. 76
Without help
- Solves problems by guessing: “add or subtract?” — picks at random
- Can't explain why they chose that particular operation
- Gets lost again when the type of problem changes — has no general way to analyze a problem