How to Teach Decimals to Special Needs Students

Hexadecimal counting with the fingers

Special needs students can learn but it is harder for them to grasp concepts and to retain the information. This can make teaching these students quite a challenge. Many special needs students require visual aids to demonstrate concepts before they can understand and use them. It is also helpful to show special needs students how a new concept is similar to, or related to a concept already understood. Of course, everyone remembers little riddles, rhymes, or information put into a song easier than plain memorization. How can you teach decimals to special needs students?

Things You'll Need

• Paper
• Calculator
• Pencil
• Eraser
• Dollar bills (5)
• Quarters, dimes, nickels, pennies (several of each)
• Three-ring binder
• Clear holders for binder

Instructions

1. Tell your student that it is time to learn something new that will help with shopping, budgeting, and paying bills. Students prefer learning things that have real life application; it increases their incentive.

2. Get all of your material ready before you sit down with your student. You will need scratch paper, sharpened pencils, eraser, calculator, several one-dollar bills, quarters, dimes, nickels, and pennies.

3. Write down a common price, for example: "A gallon of milk costs $3.64," on the piece of paper. Then use the dollar bills and change that you have on the table to make this amount.

4. Ask your student what the $.64 means. Ask what the 6 means and what the 4 means. If your student doesn’t know, you need to explain it. Use the coins on the table to explain the value of each place.

5. Tell the student to show you some different amounts using the change on the table. For example, ask the student to show you, $0.53, $0.75, and $0.14. Be sure to write these amounts on the piece of paper so the student can see them.

6. Write similar amounts again but without the dollar or cent signs, just use the decimals. Ask your student to show you the amounts. Then ask your student to add them together. The first few times, allow your student to use the coins to do the addition.

7. Create some sample addition problems using decimals with two places on a piece of paper. Do not put dollar signs or cent signs. Ask your student to add the numbers. After they are added, ask your student to use the coins to verify each answer. If they are correct, move on; if they are incorrect, repeat this step.

8. Ask your student to subtract an amount from a larger amount using the coins and write the problem down. For example, write .92 - .13. Allow your student to use the coins to answer the question. Repeat this several times. When your student has mastered this skill, write some similar subtraction problems on the paper. Ask your student to solve the problems without using the coins first and then double check the answer using the coins. When your student has mastered the skill of subtraction, move on to another step.

9. Remember that special needs students learn at a slower pace than other students learn. Don’t rush your student into completing all of these steps in a day. It could take several days or weeks to get through all of the steps. It is important for your student to understand and visual each step and concept. Rushing may lead to your student becoming frustrating or quickly forgetting concepts.

10. Increase the decimal places one at a time after your student has mastered using two decimal places. Do not overwhelm your student. Make sure the student is comfortable with three decimal places before moving on to four.

Tips & Warnings

• Explain that understanding decimals will help your student calculate sales tax, use recipes, and take medicine.

• As you go through the steps try to point out how your student might use a certain number.

• For example, did you know that 25 cents is called a quarter and that equals ¼, which is also called a quarter?

• A dime is .10 of a dollar; the one is in the tenths place, and a dime is one-tenth of a dollar because there are 10 of them in each dollar.