Blog – Let Me Learn

Is finger counting a GOOD IDEA?

Sue — Thu, 28 Jan 2016 10:23:36 +0000

YES! Of course it is – you know that because you probably still do it on occasion. I certainly do and I know my sister does – we’re both pretty good at maths too.

Finger counting is great to give children a one to one correspondence of numbers up to 10 or even 20 but after that they need to start learning strategies for larger quantities or they will start to get muddled and stuck in the Counting Trap.

Children who have issues with counting on their fingers may have Finger Agnosia which is the inability to distinguish between fingers as they are being counted. I have also seen children who are unaware of which finger is being touched with each count. Using blocks, cuisenaire rods or any other suitable object can be a better solution for these children.

Helping children graduate from counting in 1’s on fingers can be a fun activity by recognising patterns. Here’s another way you can help your kids using your fingers to make the numbers and also maths symbols to make a sum. It’s great fun and the kids will love working out the sums you’re doing on your fingers. What’s more, this can all been done in silence and the children can give you the answer with their fingers. You can give a thumbs up if they’re correct or a thumbs down if they’re wrong.

Watch this 30 second video to see how it could be done with your kids:

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctPieSfKFak

If you have some other fun ideas I’d love to hear them – please share by adding a comment below.

5 Reasons Games BOOST Learning + 3 WARNINGS

Sue — Thu, 21 Jan 2016 11:46:47 +0000

Well designed games for learning maths are so much fun – they don’t have to be computer games (contrary to popular belief), children love all games.

Here’s why they BOOST learning:

Games help children practice maths in a fun way which helps memory retention. Countless studies have shown that having fun boosts memory and cognitive function (conversely stress diminishes memory and cognitive function).
Boredom busting practice. You have to do a certain amount of repetition to learn – the amount a child has to do depends on the individual and their ability to remember. Often, children don’t associate games with learning in a negative sense. What do you think your children prefer, repetition of a worksheet or repetition of a game?
The thrill of winning can boost a child’s motivation and confidence. (But be careful – see WARNING below)
Games can teach important social skills:
- Taking turns.
- Learning how to cope with losing; learning that losing is ‘okay’ and you can learn how to win from losing.
- Help isolated shy children come out of their shells.
- Help tune disillusioned children back on to learning.
Improve fine motor skills using counters and dice (can be useful for children with fine motor Dyspraxia

3 WARNINGS

The competition aspect of games can be a bad thing for some children and could turn them off learning. Remember: stress diminishes memory and cognitive function. Be careful who they partner up with to play games or play 1 player maths games instead.
Many maths games that you can buy children actually NEED to know the maths to play which is pointless and will deflate a child who is struggling.
Computers have been shown NOT to improve learning – although extremely helpful to assist special needs children. They can be as much of a distraction as they are a help. Use computer games wisely.

Let Me Learn maths games have been designed specifically for children who struggle with learning and importantly they don’t have to be good at maths to play. This is because the games have Training Cards. This is like a Football Coach coaching you to improve football skills. Every team has a coach so why not when you’re playing a game? The Training Cards help children learn as they play – all the answers are either on the Training Cards or there’s a way to help work them out.

For example the times tables games have all the answers on. It’s okay, its not cheating and really important to tell children it’s not cheating if they think it is because when they learn the answers from the Training Card they’ll be so proud, they won’t need to use it they’ll be pushing it away telling you they don’t need it because they know it.

They are great for Teaching Assistants to use because you can simply give them a game and you won’t need to spend your valuable time explaining what to do – they can read the instructions themselves.

Perfect for children with reading difficulties /dyslexia and for homework. Out of 101 games I’ve made only 2 games have words on apart from of course the instructions. Although I’ve watched children play the games with out reading the instructions and they’ve managed to work out most of the rules by themselves).

Good for children’s self esteem because many games they won’t win because they are good at maths, they win by chance from the odds of winning or the luck of rolling the dice. So a child who isn’t good at maths playing against a child who is good at maths can win a game without being top at maths – a great moral boost!

You can give a non-reader, a foreign language child or a Dyslexic child a maths homework game without any words and without the need for copious lengthy writing – games are good news and exciting!

Choosing a theme that children enjoy is important too: Pirates, Football (popular), Fairies, Rugby, Hockey, Mermaids, Basketball, Army, Busy Bees Halloween, Christmas.

Stuck in the ‘Counting Trap’?

Sue — Fri, 15 Jan 2016 10:49:20 +0000

‘The Counting Trap’ was first described by Professor Eddie Gray (Thompson’s ‘Teaching & Learning Early Number’ 1997). It’s where children get stuck in an ever increasing struggle of counting to perform any maths operation. All children can get stuck in this trap from time to time but it’s especially noticeable amongst children with short-term memory deficits.

If you want to reach out to the dyslexic and dyscalculic children with memory issues you can help them with little and often practice. Just 10 minutes everyday is ideal. It has to be everyday. 30 minutes or an hour once or twice a week isn’t going to work. They need to see, touch, play, and do the maths frequently and this will help to overcome their short-term memory deficits. another way to boost memory is to make sure it’s fun – we all remember things that are fun much more easily than the boring things where we may start to drift off or fall asleep.

This ‘Counting Trap’ is the exact reason I created my themed maths games. They are quick, exciting, engaging and fun. But most importantly, your children don’t have to be good at maths to play them because they will be learning whilst they play.

Here are some new games this week:

Bridging 10 Skills

Rounding Skills

P.S. Don’t forget to download your free game when you sign up to my newsletter.

5 Reasons Why Place Value is Difficult

Sue — Fri, 08 Jan 2016 14:08:42 +0000

Once you’ve learnt and understood place value and you use it frequently without thinking, it’s hard to put yourself in the shoes of someone who is struggling to understand it.

Here are 5 reasons place value is difficult:

Repeated Pattern
The number symbols 0-9 are used repeatedly in different columns to mean different quantities.

Single Words

Two number symbols are used together to created new words TEN, ELEVEN, TWELVE 10, 11, 12 – there is no pattern to follow to learn these.

Teen Numbers

13-19 are said backwards. 16 is SIX then TEEN – the tens column is written first and said last.

Confusion Between Numbers

Confusion with multiples of ten. 60 can sound very similar to 16. Especially in a noisy classroom or if a child has auditory deficits and / or concentration difficulties.

Exchange
Beyond writing and saying the numerals there is the concept of exchange for example 10 x 1p coins can be exchanged for 1 x 10 pence piece.

Once mastered, place value is such a useful tool helping children get out of the habit of counting in 1’s. This is where numerous mistakes can be made due to the sheer amount of counting that has to be done in order to reach the answer.

It’s likely that children with Dyscalculia and some with Dyslexia will find place value particularly difficult. You can help children understand place value with short but frequent sessions of multi-sensory / hands-on practice with different concrete resources so they can play with the numbers and ideas to help them understand.

Here are some games that can help with place value:

Straight forward Place Value Games (the first game is FREE!)

Understanding ‘Teen’ & ‘Ty’ Games (there’s 4 to choose from depending on the level of your children)

Add and subtract 1 and 10 Games

Adding and subtracting 1, 10, 100 and 1000 games

Adding & Subtracting Using Place value Games

Better Thinking Step by Step

Sue — Thu, 10 Dec 2015 14:56:25 +0000

Help your students improve their thinking skills.

Thinking is a skill you can learn and it helps significantly if you are in a relaxed mood. Dyslexic children find it hard to think but especially hard to get their thoughts on paper. So after your dyslexic children have done this technique – be ready with pen and paper to get their ideas down quick or better still a dictaphone.

This is very simple but surprisingly it does require some time, effort and practise to master it. A whole lesson on the technique is a great starting point.

All you do is walk. I know, it couldn’t be simpler. However, there’s more. Read on to see what I do to think and how you can adapt it to work for you in your learning environment.

You need some space to just walk. I walk round the block where I live and as soon as I get home I’m bursting with ideas – I need to take a pen and paper on my next walk as I can easily forget them as I think of new ideas.

Why does walking work? At the moment, scientists are not sure. Here’s a study that was done on walking and it’s effect on creative thinking.

If you have room at your school to do this – inside in the corridors or hall (it doesn’t have to be outside) but for some fresh air the playground, you’ll see such a difference in the creativity and ideas of all your children – not just the dyslexic children.

P.S. If you don’t have room to walk, the Cross Crawl exercise from Brain Gym is equally effective and I have found it can give a calming and clear thinking effect too

Here’s a video about cross crawl:

Left or Right Confusingly Annoying!

Sue — Thu, 03 Dec 2015 18:01:00 +0000

This is my pet hate about being dyslexic. I have to continually correct myself over left and right.

You see, it just doesn’t stick. But I do have tricks that help me remember. And that’s what’s important.

For me, just looking left or right doesn’t help me, I don’t have that innate ability to just remember left from right.

Sometimes left feels like right and right feels like left.

Except when i use my simple tricks. If I move my whole arm (not just my hand) and point. Also if I imagine turning right with my whole body – actually moving my body 90 degrees really helps too. I’ve come up with these little tricks just because they work for me. Some find using their hand to make an L shape works – but many kids find this even more confusing.

I have to be really careful at the moment because I’m teaching my 2 year old to look left and right before crossing the road. Except it’s really important to look right first then left then right again (yes I did have to think about that before I typed it!) So I’m being extra vigilant about using my tricks and I may even have to come up with new ones.

So how does this help you? The important thing to remember about dyslexia is that dyslexia does not manifest itself in each person in exactly the same way so we all have to find our own little tricks that work for us. You’ll find that my tricks work for some children but not others. You can have fun finding the tricks that work for you and your children.

P.S. Not everyone who confuses left and right is dyslexic.

P.P.S. You might find Bulldog Letter Reversals useful if you have children that confuse b and d as well as left and right.

P.P.P.S I read another post recently about tricks to help dyslexia. You might find this helpful too

The truth about helping kids learn

Sue — Mon, 23 Nov 2015 09:31:16 +0000

As an ex-tutor / teacher I like to think I know a thing or two about helping children learn. But when it comes to my own son, well, that’s a whole new adventure! It can be difficult to teach your own children.

I had been wanting to teach my son Oliver who is 2 to count past 10 for a while now. But he’s not been that interested. He’s been saying 1-10 then random numbers including 17 and 99.

So what could I do? All my training has taught me that it’s all about motivation, interest and enthusiasm + meaning (make it real).

“learning is all about motivation, interest and enthusiasm + meaning (make it real).”

The perfect opportunity arose when I went to the Pharmacy to get some new vitamin drops without suger syrup.

14 drops every morning!

Oliver loves watching the vitamin drops fall in his milk. He’s motivated, interested and entusiastic about the whole experience.

And now he’s counting to 14 every morning.

Everyone needs a reason to learn – and our job as parents and teachers is to help children find their reasons to learn – no matter their age.

We also made an IKEA flat-pack storage system this weekend which involved lots of counting of bolts and dowels. But also a hammer and a drill – so the counting went out of the window as you can imagine!

Emily’s Mum is making homework fun!

Sue — Thu, 29 Oct 2015 17:25:35 +0000

Helen is Emily’s mum and she has had a superb idea! It’s so simple and it’s going to be so effective for her 5 nearly 6 year old daughter Emily. Helen bought a Fairy Maths Games Set for Emily because she thought she was struggling a bit with her maths. Emily felt that she wasn’t doing as well as the other children in her class.

Helen’s superb idea is to play a maths game every night after doing her reading homework. Emily has to read a page every night which takes her 5 minutes and now they play a fairy maths game straight after which also takes just 5 minutes or so.

It’s such a simple and effective way of getting regular practise at reading and maths. It slots in nicely after reading and is no extra effort because everything is ready to play straight away.

Helen is a brilliant mum! Taking the initiative to help Emily and rather clever about fitting it in with her reading time.

Oh and guess what? Emily isn’t struggling with maths at all. Emily wants to keep up with those who are best at maths in her class and wants to practise more to increase her speed and accuracy.

Can you find 5 minutes of time to fit some maths in? Games are ideal.

Number Bonds – Is it Glue? Understanding Number Bonds

Sue — Thu, 09 Apr 2015 19:45:44 +0000

Have you heard of the term Number Bonds? Sounds a bit like glue perhaps. Sometimes they are called Number Facts, perhaps you’ve heard of these?

Number Bonds or Number Facts mean all the different numbers that will add together to make the same number. Here’s an example for number bonds to 10. They are very useful.

Number Bonds or Number Facts are useful to learn because they save you time and there’s less chance of you making a mistake if you use them instead of counting individual numbers.

6+4=10 If you know the answer straight away you don’t have to count on 4 numbers to get to 10. That’s 4 chances to make a mistake.

60+40=100 This is where number bonds really help you. You don’t have to count on 40 or 4 lots of 10 to get to 100.

Remembering the pairs of numbers that make 10 is a really good idea – it saves you time and you can avoid mistakes.

Practicing the pairs of numbers that make 10 is paramount to remembering them.

Join my facebook page to get free coupons for games just like this football number bonds to 10 game

Hampshire Wins! Business Recognition Awards

Sue — Thu, 02 Apr 2015 07:53:12 +0000

PRESS RELEASE

Media information

02/04/2015

Southampton based Let Me Learn wins Product of the Year in the Networking Mummies Recognition Business Awards 2015

A Southampton‐based firm received Networking Mummies Product of the Year Award.
On Saturday 28th March, Sue Kerrigan, owner of Let Me Learn, won the Product of the Year Award for her Football Maths Board Games for children that struggle with maths and learning.

The awards were judged by Entrepreneur Jacqueline Gold, Radio and TV Presenter Janey Lee Grace and Chris White MP in Birmingham. There were 13 finalists from Hampshire and 5 went on to win an award.

football maths board games

Sue Kerrigan said, “It was a great honour to be nominated with over 500 nominations from across the UK. To actually win the award is an incredible feeling! I’m so pleased that an education business caught the eye of the judges and they recognised the importance of helping struggling children learn in a fun and motivating way. I am dyslexic myself and this gives me first hand understanding of how difficult learning can be. Running a business is tough in itself, but running a business with children is incredibly tough and it’s thanks to Networking Mummies Ltd that we can grow and network with other mums and make our businesses work for our whole family.”

Networking Mummies Ltd connects families in business with free networking events and affordable workshops and other events giving mums and the dads in business the ability to connect face to face and online. There are two branches in Hampshire: Networking Mummies Hampshire based in Portsmouth and Networking Mummies New Forest and Southampton. www.networkingmummies.com

Hampshire winners:
BEST PRODUCT- Sue Kerrigan – Let me Learn
OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION- Tarryn Hunt –Mums That Care
BUSINESS DAD- Johnny Reilly – The Reilly Enterprise
AGAINST ALL ODDS- Chloe Marie Palmer – Tada Events
SMALL BUSINESS- Laura Haystaff – The Hair Topiary

Let Me Learn, 1 Moss Drive, Marchwood, Southampton. Tel: 07740 282399 Email: sue@letmelearn.co.uk

For further information, photos and product samples, please contact Sue Kerrigan at Let Me Learn on
07740 282399.