Development of Numerical and Calculation Skills
Lavinia Savarese, Bianca Andreozzi, Ilaria Ceccarelli, Anna Giulia De Cagno
In line with scientific literature and consensus documents on SLD, this study aims to contribute, principally, to the collection of data on the development of technical skills through screening actions carried out right from the early years of primary school. The second objective of the study is to detect early learning difficulties in mathematics. The project examines a sample of 114 children from several schools in the province of Rome, who joined a screening project during their first two years of primary school. Through this project, development in performance in the logical-mathematical area over the first and second years was analysed. Severe difficulties in the area of numerical knowledge were identified in the first year class, which, nevertheless, were spontaneously resolved in the second. Regarding the area of calculation, the results obtained show a high number of deficient performances only in the second year class. Therefore, evaluating these skills in second year pupils is more likely to bring out those who risk developing a disorder in the logical-mathematical area later, helping to exclude false positives.
Keywords
Screening, SLD, Maths skills, Early observation, Primary school.
