Clausen-May, Tandi - a book review

The book states its purpose as being about teaching mathematics to pupils who have learning differences, not learning difficulties and draws our attention to the school curriculum that is largely based on print rather than on visual or kinaesthetic learning. There is an emphasis on looking for different approaches, finding out what works best and ensuring that hearing, seeing and doing support one another using pictures, models and activities to give greater meaning to the spoken or written words.

It is an easy book to follow with clear instructions and diagrams throughout and a useful list of key points at the end of each chapter. Number, decimals, fractions, ratio, shape, space and measures, angles and circles are all discussed as well as data handling and algebra. References and web sites are given for the suppliers of some of the resources, while others are easily produced from readily available classroom materials and there are also some photocopiable resource sheets provided.

Although written with pupils/children in mind, if you are working with adult learners at Entry Level or Level 1 and beyond there are several useful ideas here that would help deepen the understanding of mathematical concepts and clarify some of the misconceptions that make mathematics a struggle for many. Viv Brown