The Bottom Line
Touch Math has been used in schools for many years, and is quite successful for students who have difficulty learning math through language-based methods and memorization of facts. Once learned, it is adaptable to many important life skills such as balancing checkbooks, calculating costs at the grocery, and counting money and making change. The program can be used with all ages, and the publishers offer a program designed for adult learners as well.
Pros
- Touch Math teaches students how to perform math operations - it is effective.
- This method frees students from using a calculator for basic math skills.
- Touch Math uses multisensory, tactile methods to teach diverse learners with hands-on learning style
- Touch Math makes math concepts "visible" to students who have difficulty with the language of math.
- Site offers free materials to try the program before you buy it.
Cons
- Touch Math is pricey, making it a bit on the high side for home use.
- Not really a con, but regular classroom teachers must be open to alternative methods-as they should.
- Use in regular classroom will initially require additional teacher support.
Description
- With this program, students with learning disabilities learn to touch points on numbers to perform operations.
- Students memorize the points and patterns and use them to perform addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.
- Visual models are gradually faded as students internalize the method. Eventually, they no longer need the visual supports.
- It is effective for LD students, adults, students with autism, and students with other language processing disorders.
- The program offers workbooks and sheets, videos, and hands-on manipulatives such as foam numbers with raised touch points.
Guide Review - Multisensory Teaching Tool for Teaching Math with Tactile Methods
Overall, Touch Math is an effective method for teaching basic mathematical operations to students who struggle with math or have specific learning disabilities in math such as dyscalculia. Having been a math phobic child myself, I think Touch Math's colorful and engaging materials and the overall ease will appeal to teachers, parents, and students who might otherwise be intimidated by traditional math teaching materials.
