# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
A 3 minute illustration of the concept of number sense by Professor Jo Boaler, in English and Spanish versions.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Defining dyscalculia | Dyslexia Scotland

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
What is dyscalculia? Scotland publishes its definition.

# data[].attributes.body
Does Dyscalculia add up ?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Ronit Bird's approach to teaching numeracy - and the idea that drives all her books - is that we should be teaching for understanding, in a hands-on and multisensory way, and not through rote-learning or memorised procedures. Working with concrete and highly visual materials, such as Cuisenaire rods, is an ideal way to explore numbers and the relationships between numbers in a way that enables children to discover facts for themselves and develop true conceptual understanding. Offering plenty of mathematical games is a good way of motivating children to spend time on those facts or topics that they need to practise, without their realising how much learning and reinforcement is happening as they play.

More about Ronit Bird

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Ronit Bird's approach to teaching numeracy - and the idea that drives all her books - is that we should be teaching for understanding, in a hands-on and multisensory way, and not through rote-learning or memorised procedures.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Scotland's education system is an inclusive one and is designed to make sure that every child and young person is entitled to support to enable them to gain as much as possible from the opportunities which Curriculum for Excellence provides.

The 2022 Scottish Working Definition of Dyscalculia has been collaboratively developed to provide education staff, partners, families and learners with a nationally agreed description of the range of indicators and associated difficulties of dyscalculia.

At all stages, dyscalculia is on a continuum varying from mild to severe, with a range of strengths and difficulties which are affected by the nature of the activity undertaken, the learning environment and any coping strategies and support in place. As a result, every individual with dyscalculia will differ in how they are affected and in the level of severity experienced.

There are however a common set of indicators that can be observed which are included within the working definition.

Identification and support

Receiving appropriate additional support is not dependent upon the formal identification of a specific need or label such as dyscalculia. However, this should not mean that schools and local authorities are not supportive of formally identifying additional support needs such as dyscalculia.

The identification of dyscalculia and the understanding of what it means can be extremely important to the learner's wellbeing and their family and this should not be underestimated.

The information gathered during the collaborative identification process is valued and forms part of the ongoing monitoring of the child or young person's progress and support within Curriculum for Excellence.

A range of templates have been developed to support the holistic, learner centred identification of dyscalculia. The templates can be downloaded from this page and adapted for local authority and school use.

The definition has been collaboratively developed by a short life working group with representation from:

The Scottish Government

Education Scotland

Association of Scottish Principal Education Psychologists (ASPEP)

Additional Support for Learning Officers (ASLO)

Dyslexia Scotland

Local authority specialist teachers and officers

Consultation with children and young people and a national parent forum also supported the development.

Improvement questions

How does my understanding of dyscalculia impact on my practice and how do I know?

How well am I supporting learners with dyscalculia?

How aware is our school community of dyscalculia and how do we know?

Download the resources
Scottish Working Definition of Dyscalculia (PDF 362 KB) Dyscalculia identification pathway 2023 (PDF 1.4 MB) Observation and Planning Tool April 2022 (Word 74 KB) Dyscalculia Establishing needs form 1 (Word 52 KB) Dyscalculia Establishing needs form 2 (Word 56 KB) Possible Indicators of Dyscalculia - Teacher Checklist (PDF 282 KB) Possible Indicators of Dyscalculia - Learner's Checklist (PDF 237 KB) PDF file: Possible Indicators of Dyscalculia - Parent/Carer Checklist (24KB) Collaborative Dyscalculia Assessment summary form 3 (Word 55 KB)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Education Scotland is a Scottish Government executive agency responsible for supporting quality and improvement in Scottish education.

# data[].attributes.body
Daniel Ansari

# data[].attributes.body
Brian Butterworth

# data[].attributes.body
Dyscalculia: Characteristics, Causes, and Treatments

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The Count On Races game, played by an adult and a child, helps children learn to count on mentally. A coin or a dice with 1 or 2 on each face is used. Children say the next number when counting on. For example, when starting from 7, for a jump of 2 we say '8,9'.

The Cube Model (4-6) and Cube Model Advanced (4-6) tasks, children recreate the models. This task develops visual-spatial skills and helps children to recognise two parts within the whole.

The Reasoning in Addition Puzzles get children thinking deeply about the value of different shapes. This Mathsbot link allows you to generate new reasoning in addition puzzles.

Visual Representations

This article explains the importance of children's finger discrimination skills and this article gives different ways in which fingers can be used. Here are some Finger Discrimination tasks by Youcubed.

These Base-5 and Base-10 Number Tracks are coloured to help children to see quantities within a number track.

This Online Base-5 Abacus by Math Rack represents quantities 10-100 using a base-5 colouring.

The Coloured 100-Squares help to identify patterns in the 100-square and can support children as they count in 2s and 5s.

The Teens & Tens Cards help children to discern between teen and tens numbers. The Place Value Sorting Task show different representations of teen numbers and challenge children to spot misconceptions.

Progression in Pattern

The Progression in Pattern guidance shows how children's understanding of repeating patterns can be built. The Grids for Repeating Patterns can be used as children look to create circular patterns with a fixed number of spaces.
Number Foundations Assessment Fluency in Calculation Within 20 Spatial Reasoning in Early Childhood, Early Childhood Maths Group
Deconstructing Word Questions KS1 Tasks and Build-Up Presentation

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
A range of resources and games for building children's early number sense with small quantities and developing conceptual understanding.

# data[].attributes.body
Daniel Ansari

# data[].attributes.body
Dyslexia & Dyscalculia

# data[].attributes.body
Symptoms Explained

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Dyscalculia is a math learning disability that makes it hard to make sense of and work with numbers. Read about what dyscalculia means, symptoms, and how to help.

# data[].attributes.headline
Symbolic and nonsymbolic number comparison in children with and without dyscalculia

# data[].attributes.subject
Symbolic and nonsymbolic number comparison in children with and without dyscalculia