Mathematics Suggestions for Sequential Processing Difficulties

Students with these problems will likely have difficulty following multi-step instructions or explanations; will have poor mastery of the multiplication tables; and often have weaknesses affecting the establishment of time concepts and the completion of multi-step computations. 

These students benefit from extensive drills of the addition and multiplication tables.  A strong visual-gestalt approach is recommended.  Flashcards, computer software, and mathematics games can be used to drill facts. 

These children should visualize and verbalize simultaneously.  Their assimilation of multiplication tables can be based on what “sounds correct”.  Teach times tables to music, or as if you are doing chants or cheers.  When using flashcards, encourage students to articulate the entire fact (“4 x 6 is 24”).

For these students, multi-step verbal explanations of mathematics procedures will require repetition.  Visual demonstration models or flowcharts will be especially helpful.  Several models of correctly-solved examples should always be available for the students’ homework assignments. 

For multi-step mathematics processes, these learners should have substantial opportunity to state aloud the proper steps in the correct order.  In addition, they can write out a step-by-step guide to follow.