Has anyone used touch math to teach subtraction? My class relies too heavily on their fingers and wondering if going back and teaching the numbers with touch math would help. Any feed back would be great.
Yes, I used it for my second graders who were VERY low. If you DO decide to use it to teach subtraction, you may want to go back in the program to learn how to use this method to add first. Once they get the handle, then they will learn to count backwards and then using it to subtract will be a cinch.
I used to do TouchMath and decided to try not to use it for 2 years. I just re-introduced it this year b/c I couldn't move my students away from using their fingers. When one of my students couldn't subtract 1 from 1 without using his fingers, I decided that there are more pros than cons for using TouchMath.
Touch math is great for those kids who count on their fingers or those who try to count up or down in their heads and lose track of where they are. I usually teach it to kids who struggle with their math facts.
I use touch math for many of my kids on IEPs and it is a life saver. However, like others said I would reserve it for a small group of kids that are struggling. I wouldn't teach it to a whole class, because the "average/high" student simply wouldn't need it, and it would be better for them to learn to the math mentally.
Touch math can be a big advantage for kids. I learned touch math as a child and I still use it today. It's great when I'm making calculations and I'm too distracted (or am multitasking too much) to completely focus on the math.
