The Trouble with Maths

A practical guide to helping learners with numeracy difficulties

Steve Chinn, Steve Chinn

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2016
• ISBN:
  9781317285151
• Edition: 3
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

Now in third edition, with updates to reflect developments in our understanding of learning difficulties in maths, this award-winning text provides vital insights into the often confusing world of numeracy. By looking at learning difficulties in maths and dyscalculia from several perspectives, including the vocabulary and language of maths, thinking styles and the demands of individual procedures, this book provides a complete overview of the most frequently occurring problems associated with maths teaching and learning. Drawing on tried-and-tested methods based on research and Steve Chinn's years of classroom experience, it provides an authoritative yet accessible one-stop classroom resource.

Combining advice, guidance and practical activities, this user-friendly guide will help you to:

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• develop flexible thinking styles
• use alternative strategies to replace an over-reliance on rote learning for pupils trying to access basic facts
• understand the implications of underlying skills, such as working memory, on learning
• implement effective pre-emptive measures before demotivation sets in
• recognise the manifestations of maths anxiety and tackle affective domain problems
• find approaches to solve word problems
• select appropriate materials and visual images to enhance understanding.

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With useful features such as checklists for the evaluation of books and a comprehensive overview of resources, this book will equip you with essential skills to help you tackle your pupils' maths difficulties and improve standards. This book will be useful for all teachers, classroom assistants, learning support assistants and parents.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• List of illustrations
• Foreword
• Preface
• 1 Introduction: mathematics learning difficulties and dyscalculia
• 2 Factors that affect learning
• 3 What the curriculum asks pupils to do and where difficulties may occur
• 4 Thinking style and mathematics
• 5 Developmental perspectives: a pragmatic approach
• 6 The vocabulary and language of maths
• 7 Anxiety and attributions
• 8 The inconsistencies of maths
• 9 Manipulatives, materials and visual images: multisensory learning
• 10 The nasties … long division and fractions
• Appendix 1 Further reading
• Appendix 2 Checklists
• Appendix 3 Resources
• Notes
• Index