I just started tutoring a 9 yo boy in 3rd grade. He gets assigned a lot of math homework each day--like 3 pages, and they're doing multiplication. He totally doesn't understand the concept of multiplication though I've lined up pennies to show him how it works, and explained how 4+4+4=3x4=4x3=3+3+3+3, etc. Also, I've noticed that he doesn't seem to remember any of his basic addition facts, not even the doubles. Part of it may just be that he's shy with me, but what may be some ways I could informally test him to see if he might have some LD problems with math? His folks already think he might have some attention problems like ADD and I think that's a possiblility, but I have that too, and I don't remember being this confused by the concept of multiplication. Of course, that was a looong time ago, lol. :|
Testing and diagnosing a learning disability must be done by a psychologist. It is a very comprehensive, standardized process that pinpoints with precision the student's areas of strength and weakness. I have some assessments that I use at the school level. While these give us a more precise picture than classroom assessment does, they cannot be used to diagnose an LD. As a tutor for this child, you need to start with what the child is able to do and help to move him forward. If there are concerns about possible learning difficulties, these need to be addressed by the parents with the school.
I agree with MrsC. Learning disabilities are far to complex to diagnose in the classroom, let alone over the internet. If you're concerned, approach the parents about testing. Of course, you must be VERY careful how you do that. Anything that can be preceived as "diagnosing" the child must be avoided.
Talk to the parents and see if they are willing to request that the school district request that their child be evaluated.
Oh goodness, I didn't mean for you to think I'd be brazen enough to try to dx this child, but I get the feeling that the parents are a bit sensitive about this (aren't they all tho!), so I didn't want to suggest that they ask about sp ed until I"ve explored this a bit with the student. My question is, what would alert a gen ed teacher to think that testing should be pursued? I guess I should have been more clear about that. I might mention that I work with high school sp ed kids every day, and have worked some with elementary sp ed kids too. The reason I think the school might miss out on having the boy tested is b/c he's had a tutor for awhile, and so he goes back to school with his homework done correctly, and may be passing under the radar b/c of that. Also, I just began tutoring him and so I can't tell whether he totally doesn't get it, or whether he's still very shy with me--I"m easy to get along with, but if he's gun-shy from past unsuccess, that could explain it too. Because of this, I really can't tell if he doesn't know anything about math--which would seem to be the case. Anyway, I think you all can understand that I want to feel some degree of certainty that he needs to be tested before I approach the parents with it. I'll take in some manipulatives tomorrow and see how he does with those and have him do some simple addition problems to see if we can work up to what he doesn't know, and I'll post back on here.
Do you have a Basic Skills teacher in your school? They usually have very basic assessments in math and reading you can administer to a student to pinpoint his greatest areas of weakness and use that as a starting point in working with him.
3 pages of math per night is A LOT of math homework, especially if a kid is struggling. Multiplication builds on addition- if the kid hasn't mastered the basic addition facts, he is going to struggle with multiplication- Go back and work on the addition facts to 18 in addition as well as helping him 'get through' the homework. If mom and dad are suspecting some focusing/learning issues, they should request an evaluation from the child study team at their son's school.
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