| | | NUMBERS A student's ability to use and understand numbers:
knowing place value
how to use them to make judgments
how to use them in flexible ways when adding subtracting, multiplying or dividing
how to develop useful strategies when counting, measuring, or estimating. BACK | COMPUTATION For success in school mathematics students must master elementary mental computational skills. Addition and subtraction within the limits of 20, multiplication and division within the limits of 100 are the foundation of all next arithmetical and algebraic topics. Some students struggling with mathematics may have insufficient mental arithmetic skills. If elementary mental computational skills are not enough good, a pupil has difficulty understanding and mastering more complicated topics. We have students drill these basic skills until they become quick and error-free. Focus to the exclusion of distractions is another training skill development that the Handle Associates System addresses. BACK |
| | | WORD PROBLEMS Keep in mind that Math Word Problems require reading, comprehension and math skills, so a child who is good at basic math equations may still struggle with math word problems. The challenge about doing word problems is taking the English words and translating them into mathematics. Usually, once the child understand the math equation, he finds that the actual math involved is fairly simple. One of the techniques we employ is to have students memorize the table below. A series of gradated exercises help students sharpen this skill. Addition | increased by
more than
combined, together
total of
sum
added to | Subtraction | decreased by
minus, less
difference between/of
less than, fewer than | Multiplication | of
times, multiplied by
product of
increased/decreased by a
factor of (this type can
involve both addition or
subtraction and
multiplication!) | Division | per, a
out of
ratio of, quotient of
percent (divide by 100) | Equals | is, are, was, were, will be
gives, yields
sold for |
BACK | REASONING SKILLS The purpose of education is not merely to enable students to accumulate facts. A major goal is that by the time students finish school they should be able to solve problems that will enable them to be happy and successful in life and to contribute to society. To achieve this goal, students need to develop higher order thinking skills.
Describe the major categories of thinking skills, including the following:
learning-to-learn skills
content thinking skills
basic reasoning skills Jones (1986) defines cognitive instruction as "any effort on the part of the teacher or the instructional materials to help students process information in meaningful ways and become independent learners."
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