Agape Educational Therapy

Come join us for this meaningful conversation as we reimagine education with the child at its centre.

There has never been a more exciting time than now.

For decades, we have been tilling hard ground trying to make things happen for our children & youth with disabilities.

For their families.

Now, with the aid of technology, we may just be getting closer to our goal. When technology is used right, lives can be made better.

A big shout out to all the parents who had taken time off to be with us to share your challenges, joys and hopes for your children. Your love (and fears) for your children is what keeps me up at night.

Big thanks to Joseph Telfer and Mark Burnard of Topschool.ai for the incredible partnership that felt so natural right from the beginning. Technology is nothing without empathy and I am looking forward to our collaboration.

P/S: If you are looking for a cosy venue to host any discussion, get in touch with Lady Grey. Thanks Lawrence Teo and team for hosting us!

What do we do when students fail persistently?

Children who are referred to us have learning challenges.

They have been told or have come to believe that they are not achieving because they are:
👎 unintelligent
😴 lazy
🧠 weak-minded

So what happens when children & significant adults around them make such attributions for their failures?

They may:
🏃 avoid tasks
🔴 blame others or the work
🍀 attribute their successes to luck
💤 not put in effort

After all, if they still do poorly after having put in hard work then they must be unintelligent right?

So they give up trying.

At least they get to protect their egos.

Such maladaptive behaviours only serve to compound their learning challenges & feed the vicious cycle of underachievement.

So what do we do?

We do attribution retraining.

We teach strategies & have them reflect on how some strategies are helpful while others are less useful.

Successes & failures are hence attributed to the use of strategies or the lack of it.

As we like to tell our students, we are here to teach them to work SMARTER, not just harder.

After all, doing the same things that don’t bring results is called insanity.

How are you helping your child/ student make the right attributions for their successes & failures so they can grow more resilient?

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝗧𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗶𝘀 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗼 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 & 𝘄𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴?

I used to play Tetris until the score was 99999.

Then I would reset the device to start playing again.

A simple game that had us Gen X and Ys obsessed in the 90s depended on an important visual perceptual skill - visual constancy.

𝗩𝗶𝘀𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗰𝘆 - 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗴𝗻𝗶𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗲, 𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗶𝘇𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗮𝗻 𝗼𝗯𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗲𝘀 & 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀.

To decide where a falling brick should go requires that we mentally manipulate the brick to quickly decide its orientation & where it should fit.

𝙎𝙤 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙙𝙤𝙚𝙨 𝙫𝙞𝙨𝙪𝙖𝙡 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙮 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙙𝙤 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 & 𝙬𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜?

Plenty.

It helps individuals to:

👀👓 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗮 '𝗯' & 𝗮 '𝗱', 𝗮 '𝗾' 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮 '𝗽' 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴
⬅️➡️ 𝘄𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗮𝗹𝘀
📰📙 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗴𝗻𝗶𝘀𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗶𝗳 𝘄𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝗰𝗿𝗼𝘀𝘀 𝘃𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝘁𝗲𝘅𝘁𝘀

𝘽𝙪𝙩 𝙞𝙨𝙣'𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙙𝙮𝙨𝙡𝙚𝙭𝙞𝙖?

Well, not really.

There are non-dyslexics who may present with such challenges in visual constancy while some dyslexics don't.

Some individuals with dyslexia may have visual-perceptual issues that simply exacerbate their challenges in reading & writing. They have what we usually refer to as dyseidetic dyslexia or visual dyslexia.

Intervention will likely differ based on the etiology of one's difficulties.

A non-dyslexic with difficulties in visual perceptual skills often does not require literacy intervention. Instead, vision therapy may be more helpful.

Similarly, someone with dyslexia, who also presents with visual-perceptual challenges, will benefit from both literacy intervention & vision therapy.

𝗙𝘂𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁: 𝗖𝗮𝗻 𝗧𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗶𝘀 𝗯𝗲 𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝗳𝘂𝗻 𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗸𝗶𝗱𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗼𝗻 𝘃𝗶𝘀𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗰𝘆 𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹𝘀?

References:
Griffin JR, Birch TF, Bateman GF, De Land PN. Dyslexia and visual perception: is there a relation? Optom Vis Sci. 1993 May;70(5):374-9. doi: 10.1097/00006324-199305000-00006. PMID: 8515965.

Mantovani S, Magro RR, Ribeiro RCHM, Marini AM, Martins MRI. Occurrence of reading and writing cognitive processes and perception visual skills in students with Visual Dyslexia. Codas. 2021 Jun 28;33(6):e20200209. Portuguese, English. doi: 10.1590/2317-1782/20202020209. PMID: 34190812.

"𝗠𝗮𝘆𝗯𝗲 𝗺𝘆 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗼𝗱 𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴."

Heard of that before when some women are asked why they are upset at something?

If women are using PMS as a reason to be unhappy, then no one will take us seriously.

So, the next time when something has truly gone wrong & we show our displeasure, be prepared to hear that we are just "PMS-ing".

𝘕𝘰 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘢 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮 𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴.

When I teach my older students with special needs self-advocacy, I use that as an example quite often as it is not uncommon for them to hear such comments, especially the girls.

I gently chide my students when they say "Oh, it's my "

I teach them that when they say something like that, then they are telling others that:

⚠️ 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝗱𝗲𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺

⚠️ 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗰𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲 & 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲

⚠️ 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗯𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗿 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀

Instead, I teach them to frame their difficulties in behavioural terms NOT in terms of their diagnostic labels.

They can state how others can help make things better for them or how they themselves can improve the next time.

They also need not make apologies 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 unless they are truly at fault, lest they be deemed pushovers.

"𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨. 𝘗𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 & 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘪𝘵."

"𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥. 𝘊𝘢𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘩𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦?"

"𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘺 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺. 𝘓𝘦𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘳 & 𝘴𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘮 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘵 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘴𝘰 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘸."

"𝘐 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘴 𝘐 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘴 𝘰𝘯 & 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘮𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴. 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘰 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘳𝘶𝘥𝘦."

"𝘚𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘊𝘢𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵?"

When they say things as they are, they help others:

🌻 𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗳𝘆 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 (𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗵𝗮𝘀𝗻'𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗿 𝗹𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲?)

🌻 𝘀𝗲𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗸𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗱𝗼 𝘀𝗼

🌻 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗽𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆

𝘓𝘢𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘴.

They are for the purpose of building awareness & understanding & creating equitable conditions so 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 can thrive.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘀𝗲𝗲?

If you are able to tell that there's a pineapple, an apple, a pear, a strawberry, a banana and a watermelon, you are right!

However, do you know that it may not be as easy for some children to tell what these are?

This is because visual closure may be a challenge for them.

𝙑𝙞𝙨𝙪𝙖𝙡 𝙘𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙚 - 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙖𝙗𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙩𝙤 𝙫𝙞𝙨𝙪𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙤𝙡𝙚 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙞𝙩𝙨 𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙩.

Visual closure is one of the few visual perceptual skills that is required for fluent reading and other daily activities like fixing a puzzle and searching for things that are partly obscured from view.

Visual closure is important for fluent reading as it requires that the reader be able to:

👓📖 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗮 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗮𝘆 𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱

🔍🔎 𝗗𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝘀𝗶𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 ‘𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲’ 𝗮𝗻𝗱 ‘𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿’

👀🔇 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝗶𝗿𝗿𝗲𝗴𝘂𝗹𝗮𝗿 𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 “𝘄𝗮𝘀” 𝗮𝗻𝗱 “𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲” 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗰𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗯𝗲 𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗴𝘂𝗹𝗮𝗿 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱𝘀

𝘋𝘰 𝘐 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘭𝘭 '𝘸𝘦𝘳' 𝘰𝘳 '𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦'?

𝘚𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘐 𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 ‘𝘺’ 𝘰𝘳 ‘𝘦𝘺’, 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘥𝘰 𝘐 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘭𝘭 ‘𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘬𝘺’ 𝘰𝘳 ‘𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘬𝘦𝘺’?

𝘚𝘰 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘵 '𝘥𝘰𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳' 𝘰𝘳 '𝘥𝘰𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘳'?

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝘄𝗲 𝗱𝗼 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽 𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗻 𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘃𝗶𝘀𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗰𝗹𝗼𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗻?

🔴 🧠 Intentional teaching of part-whole relations using games and puzzles.

🗨️▶️ Playing word games like Hangman with meaning of the word given.

〰️➰ Creative drawing games where the child has to imagine what s/he can draw using a few given lines.

✏️〰️ Join-the-dot activity sheets.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗮𝘀 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽 𝗸𝗶𝗱𝘀 𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝘃𝗶𝘀𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗰𝗹𝗼𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹𝘀?

𝗔𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗚𝗲𝗻 𝗭 & 𝗚𝗲𝗻 𝗔𝗹𝗽𝗵𝗮 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗹𝘆 𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝗿 𝘀𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝘆 𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗼𝗱?

As an educator & a mother to a newly minted adult & a teenager, I felt the need to say my piece after reading posts that paint an entire generation with the same paintbrush dipped in black ink.

To say that our youths are not as good as us, is not only unfair but overly reductionist.

There is just no comparison.

Conditions have changed. The current generation faces unprecedented conditions that even we - the oldies - struggle to make sense of.

❗ A sense of perpetual crisis.

⌛ Information overload.

🏃Relentless cut-throat competition.

Born after the 9-11 event, the world has never been a safe place for them.

We had fire drills.

𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘴.

We grew up without global warming in our vocabulary.

𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸 𝘶𝘱 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸ing 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘰𝘪𝘭 & 𝘨𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦.

We grew up being checked for lice & bad teeth at school.

𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸 𝘶𝘱 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 & 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘸𝘢𝘣𝘣𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘥𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘤.

We grew up having only print media & the TV for information.

𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸 𝘶𝘱 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘐𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘢, 𝘍𝘉, 𝘛𝘪𝘬𝘛𝘰𝘬, 𝘋𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘥, 𝘙𝘦𝘥𝘥𝘪𝘵, 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘛𝘶𝘣𝘦… 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘣𝘪𝘨 𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘨𝘶𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘴…𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘵-𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘴.

We grew up with homes as safety havens.

𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸 𝘶𝘱 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯𝘴 & 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯𝘴.

We could leave our bullies behind once school's dismissed.

𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦 & 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘶𝘮𝘢 𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥.

We grew up knowing that a degree will get us somewhere.

𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸 𝘶𝘱 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘥𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘥𝘦𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦.

Perhaps, if we, the “oldies”, can try to see things from their perspective, be more empathetic & encouraging, we will have a generation we can all be proud of.

My students & children are aspiring not to be successful on our terms. It's their world. Their terms.

If by meaning of being "not hungry enough" means that they are not aspiring towards great financial success for themselves, I am actually happy.

𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘱𝘶𝘳𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴.

And that can only bode well for us.

"𝗠𝘆 𝟭𝟭-𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿-𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻 𝗮𝗹𝗴𝗲𝗯𝗿𝗮?"

Well, yes and no.

Rather than algebra the way most of us know it (find x), we teach algebraic thinking to children with mathematical difficulties.

𝘈𝘭𝘨𝘦𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘤 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨.

𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘧𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘸𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳.

Children with dyslexia face difficulties in the area of word decoding and comprehension. Their challenges in reading comprehension may extend to word problem solving in math.

Without truly understanding the problems and the relationships between the quantities, it is not uncommon to see them engaging in guesswork.

Chrissy (not her real name), my 10-year-old student with dyslexia, started intervention not knowing why she should add, subtract, multiply or divide. By default, she would add or subtract when given a word problem since she was more familiar with the two operations.

Instead of having her do problem after problem and having her memorise the schemas of typical problems at her grade level, we worked on reasoning and equipping her with mathematical language that she could use for that purpose.

𝘏𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘥.

It allowed her to gain an insight into the way she thought about numbers and gave the adults a way to access her thinking process. There was now meaning to what she was doing and she felt less anxious about having to solve math problems.

How would you foster algebraic thinking in your child or students?

𝗗𝘆𝘀𝗹𝗲𝘅𝗶𝗮 & 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗰𝘀 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝟮

Children with dyslexia may struggle with math due to weaknesses in working memory, processing speed and information retrieval.

𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘥𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 & 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘩𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯.

Jo, an 11-year-old, has dyslexia and struggles with math.

Jo is able to add, subtract, divide and multiply. However, he takes a long time and frequently makes errors.

He misreads 1 as 7, reverses his 5 and 2 and because of his poor handwriting, a 0 often looks like a 6.

Jo is still unable to tell that 5 + 2 is 7 or that 6 - 4 is 2 without using his fingers.

To reduce working memory load when solving more complex problems, Jo needs to ensure that he achieves 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘺 in basic skills like handwriting and computation. With more working memory space freed up, he can then focus on the other aspects of the task.

𝘈𝘶𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮 𝘢 𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘬 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘧𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘭𝘺. 𝘐𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.

However, intensive paper-pencil practice and repetition is an almost sure-fire way to kill motivation in kids who are already struggling.

So what did we do?

I started with mental math.

Because every kid loves a good trick and a shortcut, I taught Jo mental math hacks while building a stronger number sense.

We played number games until he was able to shout out the answers quickly. Difficulty was built up gradually so he remained confident at every point.

Jo started looking forward to learning new tricks and tips.

Paper-pencil drills became less painful.

In fact, they became even enjoyable as he applied the hacks & tried to better his timings.

One day, Jo burst out after a particularly good run, “Can I beat you at mental math someday?”

My eyes lit up.

“Why not? Maybe you can even beat me by the end of this year!”