Overcoming Difficulties with Number

'The beauty of this book is that it provides so many well-sequenced activities in one easy-to-use resource...[This book] would be a valuable addition to the shelves of both the numeracy co-ordinator of a primary school and the secondary mathematics department [as well as] a most useful resource for those involved with the recently launched One to One Tuition Programme'
Support for Learning

'Ronit Bird is one of the most skilled and experienced teachers of learners suffering from dyscalculia. Her approach is based on years of reflective practice but also a deep understanding of the roots of numerical difficulties and disabilities. She stresses the importance of starting with concrete and manipulable materials before moving on to more symbolic materials. Her teaching scheme building systematically on the basis of the learner's current understanding, rather than on mechanical measures of performance. This seems to me of fundamental importance. Overcoming Difficulties with Number provides a wealth of numerical activities and games, taking the most effective from a range of sources, including Cuisenaire rods and domino patterns for the earliest stages where learners are still counting in ones. As learners progress, clear methods for reasoning about more complex numbers are introduced. She provides very lucid methods for areas where many children, not just dyscalculics, have great difficulty, such as solving 51/2 x 11/2 or (x+1)(x+3) using grids. I highly recommend this book for teachers and teaching assistants who deal with children who have number troubles, but I also believe that most teachers of early maths will find much that is helpful with all learners' - Professor Brian Butterworth, University College London

'I have tried some of the activities with pairs in a whole class situation and they work very well, particularly with children struggling to remember facts through traditional methods (that are not always particularly successful with many) or with younger children learning to count and memorize number facts for the first time' - Mike Eatwell, Deputy Headteacher, Bristol

'The best part of the book for me is the range of resources in the appendices and the discussion of classroom activities. I like the way the activities are tightly focused on the four operations and yet have a wide variety of approaches e.g. Suduko, Connect 4 etc.' - Clare Creasor, Senior Lecturer in Mathematics Education, Edge Hill University