This summer I worked with a small group of parents through numeracy lessons and activities to do with their students. The step-by-step lesson plans followed the work of my favorite dyscalculia experts and targeted the development of a foundational sense of number. 

When I say dyscalculic learners need to go all the way back to gain a foundational sense of number, most parents and teachers have no idea how far back is required.

The reply I often hear is, "Oh yes, we went back to single digit addition" or "We are starting a couple of grades below the student's grade-level." 

But when I say "foundational number-sense," I mean we go as far back as we can to explore the early ideas of number and quantity. Dyscalculic learners do not have a foundational number-sense, something that is innate for the majority of the population. 

Our education systems skip over this critical number-sense instruction because they don't even realize these are concepts dyscalculic students struggle to comprehend. 

In our six weeks together, these engaged parents explored early numeracy with their children ages 10-13. Most of the students were resistant to doing math, but these parents patiently encouraged a new approach to doing math together. And it paid off. Together they made surprising discoveries about what their child actually understood or didn't understand about numbers. And they enjoyed connecting with other parents on a similar journey.

To give you an idea of what I mean by foundational number-sense, let me share some of the concepts we covered, ones dyscalculic students struggle to grasp.

• What makes a number even or odd. 

• How to double or halve a number visually. 

• Numbers inside other numbers. 

• Visuals for quantities 1-10. 

• Understanding numbers as groups/sets of quantities. 

• Addition strategies without memorization or counting in ones. 

• Building a quantity with two smaller quantities.

Foundational numeracy work is slow work. But it is also rewarding and exciting to witness how this thoughtfully targeted numeracy intervention makes all the difference in the student's confidence and success in developing number-sense!

If you are interested in joining a group doing similar with students, check out my consulting page for current offerings.