Math Instruction
Math difficulties are often misunderstood. Students who struggle with numbers are not lazy, careless, or bad at math — they are frequently missing foundational number sense that was never built. Our multisensory math instruction addresses those foundations directly, using concrete materials, visual models, and explicit teaching to build the understanding that makes calculation possible. We serve students with dyscalculia, math anxiety, and general math difficulties from early elementary through high school.
Multisensory math instruction is particularly beneficial for learners with dyscalculia, a learning difficulty specific to mathematical skills. Dyscalculia can pose challenges in understanding numbers, arithmetic operations, and mathematical reasoning. This approach tailors instruction by incorporating visual aids, such as color-coded materials and diagrams, to enhance comprehension of abstract concepts. Additionally, auditory components and hands-on activities provide multiple channels for reinforcement, addressing difficulties in processing numerical information and creating a supportive learning environment for individuals with dyscalculia.
For dyscalculic learners, multisensory math instruction employs a combination of visual, auditory, tactile, and kinesthetic elements. Visual aids and charts make abstract concepts more visually comprehensible, while auditory components, like verbal explanations, reinforce understanding. Tactile and kinesthetic activities, such as manipulatives and hands-on exercises, facilitate a concrete understanding of numbers. This multisensory approach caters to the diverse needs of dyscalculic individuals, fostering a supportive and empowering math education experience that helps build confidence and proficiency in mathematical skills.
Multi-sensory Math
What we teach
Our math instruction covers number sense and numeracy, place value, the four operations, fractions and decimals, ratios and proportional reasoning, and pre-algebra concepts. We meet students where they are and move forward from there — whether that means going back to build number sense from the ground up or filling specific gaps that are blocking progress at grade level. Sessions are available in Colorado Springs and online.
Concrete Materials
This program draws on research by scientists like Stanislas Dehaene and Brian Butterworth, emphasizing numeracy as a core challenge in math difficulties. It focuses on automatic recognition of quantity and patterns, such as understanding the inherent "threeness" or "fourness" of numbers without counting. Utilizing these principles, the program incorporates historic multisensory teaching strategies inspired by Montessori and Stern Math, combining elements from Multisensory Language Instruction. These include simultaneous processing, pattern recognition, color coding, hands-on instruction, and specific retrievable instructional language to enhance students' mathematical skills.
Multisensory Math offers a unique way to teach math by using hands-on objects to explain concepts. We follow a process called Concrete-Representational-Abstract (CRA), where we start with hands-on activities, move to visual aids, and then progress to working with just numbers
The idea is to help students grasp math by using real objects and visuals as memory aids. While using hands-on objects is important, the ultimate aim is for students to become skilled in math calculations and applications without relying on these aids. To achieve this, it's crucial for students to really understand the basic concepts behind the math they're learning, so they can use it in real-life situations.