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WHEELING -- Sometimes basic math learning just doesn't "add up" or make sense to a young school student that struggles with mathematical thinking, says Elizabeth Hofreuter, head of school at Wheeling Country Day School.
WCDS has developed a math program that has assisted struggling math students for more than a decade, and now the school has received a grant to expand the effort and bring it to students outside the area.
The "Fearless Learning for Math" program at WCDS has received a $70,000 "Moonshot Grant" from the Remake Learning Council in Pittsburgh, which rewards schools and their "bold ideas for the future of learning."
This is the second Moonshot grant the school has received in recent months. During the first round of grants last fall, WCDS was presented with an initial $70,000 grant for its "Teaching to the Edges" program. That program seeks to provide a personal educational curriculum to meet the needs of each student.
The second grant, meanwhile, focuses on assisting students specifically struggling with math learning, according to Hofreuter.
WCDS and teacher Margie Howells will take the lead as the school partners with Carlow College in Pittsburgh to bring the WCDS "Fearless Learning For Math" program from the third-grade classroom to other third-grade students participating virtually in the "What I Need" (WIN) program on the Carlow campus.
All third-grade students at WCDS are tested for "dyscalculia." Similar to dyslexia, dyscalculia is a learning difficulty that affects an individual's ability to do basic arithmetic such as addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.
"As a society, we accept when someone says they are bad at math," Hofreuter said. "But it may be an indication that a student is struggling with basic mathematical thinking. If that is not there, we can't build anything on top of it.
"And Lord help the student who is suffering from both dyslexia and dyscalculia. If they have a word problem, not only can't they read the problem but they can't do the math."
Hofreuter said studies indicate at least 7% of all school students show signs of dyscalculia.
"I personally believe that is low," she continued. "We just don't have good diagnostics for dyscalculia like we do for dyslexia."
By comparison, It is estimated that as many as 15% to 20% of the population as a whole has symptoms of dyslexia, according to data from the International Dyslexia Foundation.
Assisting students involves going back "to the basics of math fluency," Hofreuter said.
"We go back and retrain the brain and fill in the gaps," she explained. "It is not that these students can't learn. They just can't learn it the way others do.
"But their brains are creative, and find a workaround. By third grade, their workarounds don't work anymore."
These students usually can be identified because of their behavior skills, according to Hofreuter.
Money from the grant will go toward stipends for the teachers involved, as well as research and development of math curriculum and math materials, she said. More materials "than just paper and pencil" are needed for the Fearless Learning for Math program, she added.
"Our bold image of what the future is is this. Children don't have to go into a math classroom and feel behind - that others can do and they can't ," Hofreuter explained.
"We can change the mindset and help them get the help they need to reach their potential."
And it's all about changing minds "on many different levels," according to Luke Hladek, advancement director at WCDS.
"I think it's exciting that a small school in Appalachia is leading the charge in changing how math is taught....," he said. "It's exciting that a place here is redefining learning, and it's something to acknowledge.
"We change minds. That's what we're doing at every level - whether it means how things are developed and taught, how a child perceives their own potential, or how we define success in core areas. We are changing minds left and right," Hladek said.