Today I read a blog post which reminded me of my daughter when she was about five or six years old. Her twin brother and she were working on learning to add as well as understand the concept of basic place value. We had a hundreds chart taped to the wall which we used as a visual reference. Of course, we also used other items and multi-sensory approaches, but the hundreds chart ended up playing a more significant role than I ever could have imagined.
My daughter, because of her auditory processing disorder and language issues, was still having a difficult time knowing the words for the numerals. So she could see 5 and know that meant 5 objects, but she couldn't remember how to say "five". She also couldn't identify the numeral 5 when I said "five". It was frustrating for her, to say the least.
One day an amazing thing happened that really showed me how intelligent and creative my little girl really is. She started pointing to numbers on the hundreds chart in a specific way. She wanted me to watch her, and she was obviously trying to show me something. So I kept watching and it finally dawned on me: she was adding! Yes, she was pointing to numbers in a sequence such as 4, 5, 9 or 3, 10, 13 and she kept doing this over and over again until she felt I understood her.
It was one of those enlightening moments in our lives. I'll never forget it and since then, I have always trusted that she will find a way to make herself heard.
My daughter, because of her auditory processing disorder and language issues, was still having a difficult time knowing the words for the numerals. So she could see 5 and know that meant 5 objects, but she couldn't remember how to say "five". She also couldn't identify the numeral 5 when I said "five". It was frustrating for her, to say the least.
One day an amazing thing happened that really showed me how intelligent and creative my little girl really is. She started pointing to numbers on the hundreds chart in a specific way. She wanted me to watch her, and she was obviously trying to show me something. So I kept watching and it finally dawned on me: she was adding! Yes, she was pointing to numbers in a sequence such as 4, 5, 9 or 3, 10, 13 and she kept doing this over and over again until she felt I understood her.
It was one of those enlightening moments in our lives. I'll never forget it and since then, I have always trusted that she will find a way to make herself heard.
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