Developing early number skills in children with Down syndrome: A project in practice
- Rebecca Baxter (LETS Go! UK)
- Kate Dale (LETS Go! UK)
Correspondence: rbaxter@letsgouk.org
Background: The literacy and numeracy skills that children develop in primary school are the ‘building blocks’ for later learning and life skills (UK government’s Education Hub, 2022). There has been relatively extensive research in reading and Down syndrome and robustly evaluated interventions are available (Burgoyne et al., 2012). However, there is limited robust research on numeracy and Down syndrome (Van Herwegen, 2024). Children with Down syndrome commonly under-achieve in numeracy relative to reading (e.g., Hulme et al., 2012; Onnivello et al., 2019) but can benefit from targeted teaching (Lemons et al., 2018; Monari Martinez & Benedetti, 2011; Onnivello et al., 2019). Practitioners report challenges around supporting schools to effectively support number. This study reports findings from a project carried out as part of a school outreach service.
Research questions: This project aimed to 1) further investigate the early number skills of young children with Down syndrome, 2) investigate the potential of an intervention targeting early number skills delivered by Teaching Assistants (TAs), 3) evaluate any progress in early number skills over a 12 month period.
Method: An intervention was developed to target three areas of early numeracy; counting, numeral recognition and ordering, and value. These early number skills were evaluated in 25 pupils with Down syndrome (aged 5-7years) over a 12 month period. Pupils were either in Year 1 (aged 4-5 years) or Year 2 (aged 6-7 years) at the start of the project. Children were assessed on these skills at Time 1: January-February 2024 and again at Time 2: January-February 2025.
Results: Results will share the early number skills of the pupils with Down syndrome at Time 1, as well as any progress at Time 2, on counting, numeral recognition and ordering and value. Furthermore, we will share feedback from TAs delivering the maths intervention.
Conclusions: Pupils with Down syndrome benefit from structured activities targeted to their specific profile. TAs report gains in confidence and knowledge through a delivering a targeted numeracy intervention. The number of TAs working with a pupil, TA turn over and change of class/year were challenges in intervention delivery.
