Parents with children with dyscalculia understand the frustrations that come with teaching mathematics.
They understand acquiring such a skill is more than just feeling good: it’s about equal access to the world, about competing on a level playing field for jobs and education, about not struggling with taxes, and about being confident with numbers.
The good news is children with dyscalculia are able to get a handle on math, even though it may seem like an uphill battle.
Baby steps
Columnist Terri O. Johnson of swnewsmedia.com lists down four ways you can be involved in your child’s quest to master math.
- Daily practice. It is true that practice makes perfect. Children with dyscalculia are not exempted from this rule, too.
- Be willing to seek extra help. This can be in the form of a tutor or prep materials or even specialized courses.
- Get involved. Just like how you would be there for your son’s first ball game or your daughter’s ballet recital, you need to be part of your child’s learning process.
- Get tested. This applies for parents who have yet to get their children’s cognitive skills tested. Finding out the root cause helps you know what you are dealing with.
There’s no such thing as someone being born bad at math, and it’s certainly not a predetermined destiny ~Tanya Mitchell
Laura Lurns · Learning Success expert
It’s only a disorder
Johnson isn’t the only one who is optimistic about this.
Journalist Amanda Ripley, in her book “The Smartest Kids in the World: And How They Got That Way,” refuses to accept that a disorder must make them permanently poor at math.
It simply should direct a parent’s teaching toward the brain exercises which will help them overcome their disorder.
We, at Learning Success, agree with Ripley and Johnson. We believe that educational therapy is best done at home by the parent.
(For more on our program for children with dyscalculia, click here.)
And no one puts it better than Tanya Mitchell:
“There’s no such thing as someone being born bad at math, and it’s certainly not a predetermined destiny.”
(Tanya Mitchell is co-author of “Unlock the Einstein Inside; Applying New Brain Science to Wake Up the Smart In Your Child.”)
Key takeaways
- Learning Math is about having equal access to the world
- Those with dyscalculia are able to get a handle on math
- Parents, be a part of the learning process
Dyscalculia and other learning difficulties are certainly no fun. But with a little grit anyone can get through them and succeed.
As a matter of fact, many who have struggled the most, in the beginning, went on to lead incredible lives.
Your child can as well.
See what All Access gives your child
Take the dyscalculia test
Is your child struggling in school?
Get your free personalized learning roadmap
You describe what you see at home. We turn it into a plan you start this week.
- Answer 5 short questionnaires about what you already notice, 30–45 minutes at your own kitchen table
- Your child sits no test and gets no score: nothing to schedule, nothing for them to dread
- You do the answering, the AI does the writing, and a person reviews it before it reaches you
- Access all 40+ courses instantly: reading, math, focus, processing and more, with new ones added regularly
Why we use AI, plainly: it writes from a knowledge base our team maintains and audits. We work through it line by line and pull anything the evidence stops supporting. The roadmap you get on Tuesday reflects what we corrected on Monday, and a human still reads it before you do.
Your school district must evaluate your child free of charge if you ask in writing, whatever your income and whatever the outcome (US, 34 CFR 300.111 and 300.301(b)). That route takes time and answers a different question than you do. This one starts today, from what you already know.
Your answers stay yours. We do not sell your personal information, and we do not hand identifiable assessment data to outside AI companies to train their models.
A screener is a starting point, not a diagnosis. If your child might need formal accommodations (an IEP or 504 plan), or you suspect a vision, hearing or medical cause, pursue a professional evaluation too. That is the only route to those supports.
