Alice Earnshaw Dyscalculia Support

25/09/2026

A correct answer does not always make me think, “Great, move on.”

Sometimes it makes me curious.

I may want to know how the child got there, whether they would use the same idea with different numbers, or whether they can explain what they noticed.

At home, asking "How did you know?" gives that little insight into your child's thinking and also how secure their knowledge is. Are they utilising their mathematical reasoning, or are they simply following a taught procedure?

This paints a picture for you that contains far more colour than the one that is simply entitled, 'they can do that, let's move on'.

What makes you curious even when your child gets the answer right?

24/09/2026

If you begin every maths conversation with your child with “What’s the answer?”, the answer can start to dominate everything else.

Instead, try using exploratory questions such as “How did you work that out?”, “What did you notice?” or “Where did it get difficult?”. These can encourage your child to be more open about what they find difficult as well as help them to understand and celebrate what they can do and what they know.

You do not need to interrogate your child after every calculation. But sometimes shifting their attention away from the answer gives you a much better sense of how they are thinking about maths.

I explore this more in Episode 11 of Safety in Numbers, How to talk about maths at home. https:aedds.co.uk/podcast

What question gets you more information than “What’s the answer?”

23/09/2026

Rather than turning home maths into another formal class-like situation, learn about your child's maths by being curious during all those incidental opportunities.

Notice what happens naturally. How do they judge whether they have enough money? What do they do when a game requires keeping score? What happens when they have to work out how long until something starts?

The aim is to simply to notice where maths seems easy, effortful or unexpectedly confusing.

Where does your child use maths naturally without being asked?

22/09/2026

When your child says, “I don’t get it,” it can mean many different things.

Rather than immediately explaining the whole problem to them again, try asking, “Show me where it stopped making sense.”

Sometimes a child can identify the exact word, step or change in representation that lost them. Sometimes they can't, but the conversation itself can still tell you more than simply repeating the method from the beginning.

Episode 11 of Safety in Numbers looks more widely at how we talk about maths at home. See https://aedds.co.uk/podcast

Try the question this week and notice what your child points to.

21/09/2026

Volume. Table. Take away.

These are all ordinary, everyday words, but maths gives them particular jobs.

A child may know what a table is at dinner time and still not immediately understand what “complete the table” means in maths. “Take away” may feel straightforward for your child until subtraction is being used to compare two quantities rather than physically removing something.

Mathematical language is not just a list of technical words to learn. Sometimes the familiar words are the interesting ones.

Which familiar maths word would you add to this list?

20/09/2026

Adults with dyscalculia - here is a chance to get involved with a project working with the Dyscalculia Network and HMRC to help make tax easier to manage.
If you’re interested in being involved, see below.

20/09/2026

Sometimes children know the maths but become lost in the way the question is phrased.

Long instructions, unfamiliar vocabulary or several pieces of information in one sentence can make it difficult to work out what they are actually being asked to do.

If the maths suddenly seems much harder in a written problem than it does elsewhere, the wording is worth looking at too. Perhaps ask your child to read the question aloud, draw a picture of the story, act it out together, rewrite the problem into steps or small parts. You could reduce overwhelm by changing the numbers to easier ones at first.

Does wording change how hard the maths feels for your child?

19/09/2026

A child may understand more than they are able to explain.

They might show an idea with objects, point to the right representation or use it successfully in a calculation, but struggle when asked to put that understanding into words.

Verbal explanation can give us valuable information about what your child understands, but if they have difficulty explaining something, that should not automatically be taken to mean they don't have the mathematical understanding underneath it.

Have you seen your child show understanding more easily than they can explain it?

19/09/2026

Great to see the British Dyslexia Association raising awareness of dyscalculia.

Dyscalculia may not be as widely recognised as dyslexia - but that doesn’t make it any less real, or any less deserving of support.

Everyone with dyscalculia deserves understanding, patience and the right support to thrive.

Learn more about dyscalculia: https://loom.ly/IMUthJ0

19/09/2026

Fabulous, Dyscalculia Network!