Teaching Math to Students with LD and ADHD: Interview with Adena Young, Ph.D.

Teaching Math to Students with LD and ADHD: Interview with Adena Young, Ph.D.| BayTreeBlog.com

Introduction

Earlier this year, our local group of educational therapists hosted Dr. Adena Young. Dr. Young is a school and educational psychologist with a private practice in Oakland, California. She works one-on-one with students, provides neuropsychological evaluations, and consults with teachers and schools.

Adena Young - headshot

Dr. Young spoke compellingly about how to support children who are struggling with problems common in learning math. Her two-hour presentation just flew by. So I knew I had to interview her for Bay Tree Blog.

Dr. Young and I sat down earlier this summer to talk about math. I’ve synthesized our interview, which is full of take-home, practical suggestions. I’ve paraphrased in some places for brevity and clarity, and you’ll find her direct quotations in quotation marks. The photos, captions, and formatting were all added by me.

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How to End Number Switching

How to End Number Switching (BayTreeBlog.com)

Talk to any kindergarten teacher, and she’ll tell you about her students who transpose numbers. Two-digit numbers puzzle many younger students. It’s not unusual to hear students confusing the numbers “13” and “31” or writing the number “14” as “41.”

This common mistake is sometimes called a transposition. When students transpose numbers, they write down all of the correct numbers, but they don’t put the numbers into the right sequence (place-value order).

Transposition errors often occur in two-digit numbers. For my students, the most commonly transposed numbers are the numbers 12-19. These mistakes with the teen numbers actually reveal the child has a good understanding of the spelling patterns for numbers and words. Mistakes with numbers greater than twenty may indicate that the child needs more place-value practice.

Today, I want to empower you with effective tools for addressing transposition errors. First, let’s figure out why students are confused.

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Webinar: Help Kids Understand What They Read

I’m excited to share this free, 50-minute class on understanding and teaching reading comprehension. Originally recorded live for Learning Ally, the webinar was rerecorded so you can watch anytime.

In this dynamic, practical session, you’ll learn proven strategies to unlock children’s reading comprehension. Together, we’ll explore the best tools and strategies for helping children understand, remember, and enjoy what they read. You’ll learn:

  • How to use YouTube to help kids understand and remember what they read.
  • Why sticky notes are essential for students who forget text.
  • What Calvin & Hobbes can teach us about motivation to read.

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Reading Comprehension Round-Up: Top Educators Reveal Top Tools

Reading Comprehension Round-Up (BayTreeBlog.com)

Comprehension is the pinnacle of reading success and essential for academic achievement.

It’s also, arguably, one of the most difficult skills to teach.

When I started teaching, I knew how to teach exactly one reading strategy. As you can imagine, only teaching kids to visualize didn’t work real well. Before long, most of my students were disengaged. Behavior issues kept cropping up, and reading motivation kept going down. Students were frustrated by their lack of progress. I was frustrated with myself.

I wish I could tell you that everything changed overnight. Sorry, it took longer than that, and I began by doing something radical. I stopped taking on reading comprehension students when I started my educational therapy private practice. (What a privilege it is to work for yourself.) I spent a few years learning how to teach reading comprehension. I read research, attended conferences, and learned from seasoned educators. Then I was ready to start again.

Today, I relish teaching reading comprehension. The complexities of teaching reading comprehension remain. Now they feel like a challenge to be solved rather than an insurmountable problem.

Today, I’m sharing the materials that I wish I’d known about when I first started teaching. These are the books and strategies that have made the biggest difference for my students. I hope you’ll find them as valuable as I have.

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Classroom Secrets for Kids with LD

Classroom Secrets: Simple Strategies Equal Big Breakthroughs for Students with LD (BayTreeBlog.com)

You know those great teachers? The ones that a child remembers for life? I’ve been lucky enough to work with some of these virtuosic educators.

Westy Litz is a fourth grade teacher. A graduate of University of Mary Washington, she holds a Masters of Science in Elementary Education. When she’s not teaching, she enjoys being active outdoors and traveling.
Westy Litz is a fourth grade teacher. A graduate of University of Mary Washington, she holds a Masters of Science in Elementary Education. When she’s not teaching, she enjoys being active outdoors and traveling.

Westy Litz is one of those teachers. In her fourth grade classroom, I’ve seen children with dyslexia, dysgraphia, and ADHD flourish. I’ve always wondered, “How does she do it?”

Over the summer, we met up for coffee, so we could figure out how she structures her classroom, connects with students, plans lessons, and collaborates with parents. This is a must read for teachers and parents.

Join us in conversation!

Over the years, I’ve provided educational therapy to students with dyslexia in your class. They always tell me that you “get” them. They love being in your class because they feel successful, safe, and valued.

It’s clear that you’re open to meeting the needs of students with LD in your class. How did you develop this perspective?

Before I moved to California I taught in an inclusive first grade classroom where about half of the students had an Individualized Education Program (IEP). I co-taught with a special education teacher who’d been teaching for about fifteen years. I didn’t realize how lucky I was. She was incredible and she helped me build a toolbox of strategies for working with every learner. Mostly, teaching there taught me how to have an open mind and think more flexibly. I learned dozens of different ways to adapt my teaching.

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5 Writing Hacks for Children with ADHD, Dyslexia, or Dysgraphia

5 Writing Hacks for Kids with LD (BayTreeBlog. com)

Imagine seeing your child eager to write. Wouldn’t it be great to see him enjoying the challenges of composition?

How thrilled would you be to see your child proudly turn in her book reports?

Well, it’s absolutely possible.

I recently taught a fourth grader whose writing didn’t reflect his thoughtful personality. His compositions were a jumble of misspelled words, run-on sentences, and off-topic musings.

But his latest paragraph? It was clear and accessible. Best of all, it sounded like him!

It’s inspiring. I want you to see what’s possible after a few hours of targeted instruction.

I want you to know that teaching writing to a child with dyslexia, dysgraphia, or ADHD doesn’t have to be such a struggle.

There’s no secret to it. Just like everything we share here, it’s a matter of taking small steps and giving kids the right supports.

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