Last Updated on October 11, 2023 by Editorial Team
Difficulty in reading, processing numbers, and establishing relationships using number sense amounts to Dyscalculia. It is a well-established fact now and about 3-7% of students are found to be suffering from this disorder[1]. With such complications to tackle, many young learners (approx.19%) drop out of school[2]. The more active and aware parents choose to homeschool kids. But, what should you know about the homeschooling curriculum? In this post, we have tried to cover important questions surrounding it.
In this post, we intend to acquaint you with:
- Academic goals to include in the homeschooling curriculum of the dyscalculic students?
- How should you select the homeschooling curriculum?
- Programs to include in homeschooling curriculum for dyscalculia
So, let’s start!
Academic goals for homeschooling curriculum of dyscalculic students
Section 504 and IEPs have the same end goal[3], that is, to offer equal learning opportunities to dyscalculic children and direct parents and teachers to provide the child with education-supporting resources. The parents in 1960 chose homeschooling as a recognized way of imparting education to children with learning disabilities[4].
Parents and kids, too, find it easy to achieve their academic objectives by pursuing them in a self-paced manner. Hence, you must draft academic goals to ensure that the child achieves math fluency within the preferred time limit. A few important goals worth considering are:
- Memorize and repeat simple numbers and math facts
- Solve word problems confidently
- Create correct subsets or groups of objects
- Develop functional math intelligence and number sense
- Be confident with concepts like money and time
- Develop interest in numbers-based games and solve math reasoning problems
- Learn orientation concept to arrange things in correct manner and order
- Learn ways to memorize solutions for math problems and master them
Hence, the overall focus is on making the child stand on par with other students indulged in classroom learning. The ways of learning math and the homeschooling way should be chosen as per the child’s caliber. Also, patience and perseverance are the top keywords to follow.
Key points for selecting a homeschooling curriculum
Selecting the homeschooling curriculum requires meticulous planning and a very open-minded approach. The child is already distraught and confused by numbers, signs, operations, and numeric relationships. Hence, going slow and having a lot of patience is a must. Further, while designing the homeschooling curriculum, the parents may seek help from:
- Student assessment methods: We have explained WIAT-III and other similar tests in a few of our previous posts. You can employ such tests to understand the child’s pain points or assess the level of dyscalculia. You can give a battery of tests to evaluate and design the curriculum for homeschoolers.
- Professional analysts: The professional analysts can provide a correct reading of the learners’ requirements. They can employ questionnaires, interviews, and discussions to define the curriculum needs.
- National data sample: A national data sample is a benchmark that tells about the proficiencies a student ought to have at a given age. By referring to this sample and its characteristics, one can ascertain actionable goals for the homeschooling curriculum. It may give a rough idea to define IEP goals for numeric proficiency in an age-appropriate manner.
- Types of learning interventions available: Any resource makes sense when it helps kids familiarize themselves with the math concepts. The use of auditory, audio-visual, visual, tactile, and other multi-sensory approaches makes intervention learning-focused. Thus, select the curriculum content according to the learning comfort of the student.
Programs to consider for dyscalculia homeschooling curriculum
Technological intervention in education is certainly a big breakthrough. The use of apps, online games and study materials, web-based games, etc. can help bring quality to a homeschooling curriculum. Therefore, we have curated a few interesting programs that you can enroll in. These programs can be your best bet if you wish to enrich the curriculum for homeschooling with wholesome teaching support. The list includes:
- Shiller Math: It is one of the most effective math curricula for dyscalculic homeschoolers. It encompasses diagnostic tests that tell the weak areas of any student. The curriculum can help and guide parents on how to make homeschooling effective for their dyscalculic children.
- Time Tales: This math curriculum for homeschooling serves the needs of dyscalculic children just right. Its specialty is the visual way of intervening multiplication tables. You may find a DVD along with books on maths in this interesting math program.
- Reflex Math: If you find it easy to intervene in math facts to teach your child with audio-visual interventions, you can consider this math program. This math program for homeschooling curriculum comprises adaptive and individual-specific instructional methods.
- Sonlight: This program offers a complete package for homeschooling students who need additional support for maths. It takes you to proven resources like books, DVDs, manipulative sets, and several kits that can help in building math sense and becoming proficient in math facts.
- Singapore Math: Singapore Math is one of the world’s topmost math curriculum programs that has become the first choice of homeschoolers. This math curriculum supports both pre-primary and primary levels of studies. Even if you are not a homeschooler, it can offer additional learning support for studying at home.
- Miquon Math: It is the homeschooling curriculum that helps students at primary and pre-primary levels. This program is designed using Cuisenaire rods and graphic papers to provide visual presentation of math facts to the students. It is a time-tested curriculum in circulation among homeschoolers since 1960. The concept of learning by doing strengthens the children’s learning in a deeply ingrained manner.
Summing up,
Where there is a will, there is a way. When you have diagnosed your learning disorder, and know how to work around its presence, your battle is half-won. The remaining half can be fought easily by choosing the curriculum for homeschooling that can help you overcome dyscalculia problems and achieve the desired academic outcomes as well. Your systematic meeting of IEP goals comes as icing on the cake.
References
- The Diagnosis and Development of Dyscalculia, An article published in Dtsch Arztebl Int. 2019 Feb; 116(7): 107–114
- The State Of Learning Disabilities, a report by National Center for Learning Disabilities, Pg 19.
- Protecting Students with Disabilities: FAQs about Section 504 and the Education of Children with Disabilities, Learning Disabilities Association of America
- Homeschooling and Students in Special Education: Sorting Out the Options for Parents, By: Jane Duffy
An engineer, Maths expert, Online Tutor and animal rights activist. In more than 5+ years of my online teaching experience, I closely worked with many students struggling with dyscalculia and dyslexia. With the years passing, I learned that not much effort being put into the awareness of this learning disorder. Students with dyscalculia often misunderstood for having just a simple math fear. This is still an underresearched and understudied subject. I am also the founder of Smartynote -‘The notepad app for dyslexia’,