Should I be concerned?

[mountainmom2011]

My daughter is almost 8 1/2 years old and struggles in math. She still has difficulty with simple addition and subtraction problems such as 3+4, 9+2, 5+4, 7-1, 10-2, etc. She still has to use her fingers and sometimes will still get them wrong. She has trouble with skip counting and number lines where they have to go up or down with the skip counting and fill in the missing numbers. Should an 8 year old be still having difficulties with these operations? Should I be concerned that she may have a learning disability?

[QueenOfTheMeadow]

Originally Posted by mountainmom2011 

My daughter is almost 8 1/2 years old and struggles in math. She still has difficulty with simple addition and subtraction problems such as 3+4, 9+2, 5+4, 7-1, 10-2, etc. She still has to use her fingers and sometimes will still get them wrong. She has trouble with skip counting and number lines where they have to go up or down with the skip counting and fill in the missing numbers. Should an 8 year old be still having difficulties with these operations? Should I be concerned that she may have a learning disability?

Can you give us some more information?  Is she schooled outside the home or homeschooled?  How is she with other subjects, such as reading and writing?

[mountainmom2011]

Originally Posted by QueenOfTheMeadow 

Can you give us some more information?  Is she schooled outside the home or homeschooled?  How is she with other subjects, such as reading and writing?

She is in public school. Her reading is weak but she is finally beginning to show some progress. In reading she tends to skip words, lines, and confuse simple sight words. She still will do those things but where she is showing improvement is in her ability to sound out unfamiliar words. Before she would be nowhere near correctly sounding out a word. She will write letters and numbers backwards and transposed. In writing she has trouble with punctuation (also has a weak grasp of this in reading), spelling, and remembering to use capitals at the beginning of her sentences. But her writing content and creativity is beautiful and even her teacher has commented on how advanced she is at that. 

[QueenOfTheMeadow]

Originally Posted by mountainmom2011 

She is in public school. Her reading is weak but she is finally beginning to show some progress. In reading she tends to skip words, lines, and confuse simple sight words. She still will do those things but where she is showing improvement is in her ability to sound out unfamiliar words. Before she would be nowhere near correctly sounding out a word. She will write letters and numbers backwards and transposed. In writing she has trouble with punctuation (also has a weak grasp of this in reading), spelling, and remembering to use capitals at the beginning of her sentences. But her writing content and creativity is beautiful and even her teacher has commented on how advanced she is at that. 

Have you expressed your concerns to her teacher?  I think I would definitely be concerned.  Kids with learning disabilities ofter show great strengths (like your dd with her creative writing) and then great weakness in other subjects. 

My ds#2 is 10.  2 years ago, he was diagnosed as gifted with a learning disability.   Between the 4 parts of his IQ, he was really high in two, and normal in one, and way below normal in another.  That discrepency lead them to dig deeper.   He's got all the answers in his head, but he just can not get them out on paper.  He also had a hard time with processing speed, meaning it takes him longer to do things,not that he can't, he just needs more time.  This is so incredibly frustrating for him.  Now he's got an IEP and some great teachers helping him out and his self confidence has soared. 

So, I would suggest talking to her teacher and setting up an evaluation.  That way you will get a clearer picture of what you are dealing with.  Even if she doesn't get diagnosed with a learning disability, it will give you more insight into how she learns.