Jakarta, Kartunet.com – When discussing the education of children with learning difficulties, it's essential to take one sample student with learning difficulties as an example. This is because children with learning difficulties exhibit different case characteristics from one child to another.
For this discussion on teaching mathematics to children with learning difficulties, we will use Shahrul, a child in the 3rd grade at Labschool PGSD UNJ, Setia Budi, as our sample. Shahrul exhibits several characteristics of difficulty in learning mathematics: when faced with a problem he finds difficult, Shahrul easily cries and gets angry. Furthermore, Shahrul struggles to follow more than two instructions at once and finds it hard to solve problems involving two indicators simultaneously.
Another challenge Shahrul faces is frequently confusing multiplication and addition. Shahrul also only understands addition and subtraction up to double-digit numbers and struggles to convert numbers into their word forms when they are in the hundreds and thousands.
In addition to the above, Shahrul often makes mistakes when writing problems or numbers from the whiteboard or books, cannot differentiate between larger or smaller quantities, and is slow in grouping objects by shape and color, such as squares, triangles, circles, and so on.
Despite Shahrul's many weaknesses and inabilities in mathematics, he possesses a talent for coloring and drawing. Due to his strong fondness for images, Shahrul often finds it easier to understand material when explained using visual aids.
Shahrul's teacher leverages this strength. In every mathematics lesson, the teacher uses visual aids to help Shahrul grasp the material more easily. For instance, to understand the addition 7 + 8 = 15, the teacher provides an image of 7 balls in one box and 8 balls in another. In this scenario, Shahrul counts the total number of balls in both boxes. This approach is then applied to other problems.
Besides images, the teacher also uses various colored papers when teaching Shahrul. For example, when teaching 2D and 3D shapes, the teacher doesn't just provide plain images but uses a variety of colors to capture Shahrul's attention.
For other learning issues, such as difficulty distinguishing between multiplication and addition, and errors in copying problems, the teacher addresses them through repetition. With the help of a special education teacher (GPK), the classroom teacher creates a specific program for Shahrul to build conceptual understanding of shapes and numbers so that Shahrul no longer confuses them when writing or copying problems.
The case example in this article cannot be generalized to other children with learning difficulties, as each child with learning difficulties faces challenges in different areas. However, this article can at least provide an overview of how to initiate appropriate learning for children with learning difficulties without imposing the will of teachers or parents.(Nir)
Editor: Muhammad Yesa Aravena