The Charlotte Clock

I mentioned in my last post a woman named Vikki Horner from the UK, whom I met when presenting an eReadingPro workshop in Gibraltar. The organizers of the workshop were very busy ensuring that us two speakers met in between my workshop presentation and hers. I'm so grateful that we did, and that I have some math materials that I can suggest to people who inquire.

What I didn't mention in my last post was a creation of Vikki's called the 'Charlotte Clock'. The clock was created to provide children with as many different ways as is possible to learn how to tell time. The concept begins with teaching the 5-minute blocks of time, and then the 1-hour blocks, gradually working into the fractions that enable the 'before' and 'after' the hour readings of time. The clock comes with a number of different 'faces' that can be used on the clock along with a resource pack for teachers.

The Charlotte Clock is a terrific invention that can be used for ALL children learning to tell time. However, it was specifically designed for Vikki's daughter who was born with Down syndrome, and struggled with the very abstract aspect of telling time.

What an amazing resource - I wish it was around when I was learning to tell time!

Math Made Easy

While in Gibraltar presenting an eReadingPro reading workshop recently, I was fortunate to meet with Vikki Horner of Maths Extra Limited. Vikki was scheduled to speak the evening after I spoke, hosted by the Down Syndrome Support Group of Gibraltar.

Often after I have presented my reading program, parents ask if I also have any recommendations they can use with their children for math. While often offering a handful of strategies they may incorporate, I had yet to suggest a particular program.

However, after meeting Vikki, I believe I now have a math program that I would recommend. Maths Extra is a multi-sensory approach to the first years of mathematical instruction.

The system allows the student to:

• See pattern in numbers
• See connections between numbers
• See structures within numbers
• Picture base ten structures

The use of various multi-colored apparatuses is the key to this system, and is based on some Montessori concepts, but particularly on the Structural Arithmetic Programme by Dr. Catherine Stern. The system begins with 'no number' puzzles, 'naming the plastic shapes' and then gradually works into introducing the actual numerals. It is a very gradual but systematic process - much like eReadingPro!

It is a system that Vikki used with her daughter Charlotte, who was born with Down syndrome, and was struggling with counting and the meaning of numerical concepts. Having such success with Charlotte, Vikki went on to introduce this system across the UK. Today she is an international speaker and presenter - which is how I came to meet her in Gibraltar.