The Studying With Dyslexia Blog welcomes Cat Eadle from The Dyscalculia Network for the first time as she shares some insights into why maths difficulties need to be addressed at an early age so as to provide a solid platform for learning later in life.
The Jenga effect is when the foundations of maths aren’t secure and this then impacts every ‘layer’ of maths learning that follows it.
When a learner doesn’t have secure foundations, or there are foundations missing altogether, and attempts are made for more maths knowledge and understanding to be added (without filling these gaps) the ‘maths tower’ becomes wobblier.
Without secure understanding the learner starts to feel anxious.
If the learner is a child by 9/10/11 years old they start to become overwhelmed. The more maths that is added the less secure they become as everything feels unsure and unstable.
This feeling of uncertainly often continues into adulthood.
There is great danger of the tower collapsing altogether and the learner refusing to engage with maths at all leading to, ‘I hate maths’.
It is vitally important for learners with Dyscalculia and Maths Difficulties to have the early foundations of maths put in place – no matter how long that takes or how much repetition is needed as nothing can be built on top of a poor foundation.
No matter how old the learner is… 6 /16/ 60 going back and finding out where they first got stuck and rebuilding from there up is the key to a stronger maths tower and a learner who changes from -
