Sometimes I still find myself touching my pencil to a number when I am doing my everyday math. I never thought of it as an approach to computation! TouchMath is a systematic approach to teaching children computation skills based on this concept. It is multi-sensory - involving seeing saying, hearing, and touching.
         Here's the concept: Each digit, from 1 through 9 has Touchpoints. The student is taught single-dot Touchpoints for numbers 1 through 5 and "double" Touchpoints for 6 through 9. In addition, the students start with the highest number and count forward, using the Touchpoints. In subtraction, the student counts backward from the highest number to discover the difference.
         Make sense? Imagine the power of this method when applied to multiplication! To learn multiplication facts, the student learns to skip count. So, when the twos are mastered and the student encounters 2 x 4, she counts by two for four counts, while touching the Touchpoints on the 4. In division, the divisor is skip-counted until something close to the number being divided is reached.
         I was so excited to learn about this and immediately began using it with my learning-disabled daughter. She caught on quickly and now actually enjoys doing her math problems! On a personal note, I am extremely grateful for this program and absolutely thrilled to have as our guest this month Jan Bullock, President of Innovative Learning Concepts.

TOS: Can you tell us how this program was developed?

Jan: It had its beginning nearly thirty years ago when I was teaching sixth grade. There were seven children in the class who could not add or subtract and two who couldn't count to 100 successfully. They were from stable middle-class homes, had been exposed to a variety of teaching tools and three had been privately tutored. Obviously, something wasn't working.

The special education teacher in the same school had been having some success teaching number values to young students using the numbers one through five with "dots" on them. I showed them to my sixth graders and asked them to help me place dots on the numerals six through nine. Once we decided on the placement, addition became very obvious and they could immediately add as far as they could count. Believe it or not, the same students who previously had so many problems then taught me to subtract, multiply, and divide. At each step they would normally have had difficulty, i.e. regrouping, we developed a visual cue to help keep them on task. In four short months students were able to add, subtract, multiply, and divide - skills which had eluded them for six years.

Through the years, the Touchpoint (dot) placement has been tested and refined and many skills have been added as the program has been revised. TouchMath is currently being used in all fifty states and seven foreign countries.

TOS: Does it work for all kinds of learners?

Jan: TouchMath works for all learners because it involves the major senses - seeing, saying, hearing, and touching - simultaneously. In the past, students have used their visual ability to see numerals, but they too frequently are meaningless symbols. Students can count aloud and hear themselves but that often is no more than a memory skill which can be mathematically meaningless. Manipulative materials, i.e. buttons, counters, rods, are usually easy for students. They count objects and put them together to make a group (add). What they sometimes can't do is make the mental connection between the objects and the abstract numerals. With TouchMath, students see the numerals, say their names, count their value, and repeat the problem and the answer. Because they are working directly on the numeral and involving their senses they are able to work at a concrete level until they can work in the abstract.

One of the great things about the TouchMath Touchpoints is that they remain in the student's memory bank after they are removed from the numerals and may either be used or not used as the student develops the ability to think mathematically in the abstract. When students are using Touchpoints, they are invisible, portable, rapid, and extremely accurate.

TOS: What ages of students use TouchMath?

Jan: Although some parents start their children with TouchMath as young as age three to give them a head start, it is most frequently used with general classroom students K-3 and with remedial students through high school. In many cases, TouchMath is the only effective teaching tool teachers can find for remediation.

TOS: Is it hard to learn, for the teacher or the student?

Jan: TouchMath is very easy to learn and teach. Educators find that they are prepared to teach it after watching the TouchMath Teacher Training Video. They also find that their students catch on to the method much more quickly than other math approaches they may have tried.

TOS: Should a parent/teacher also do traditional types of drill to learn math facts as well?

Jan: We encourage traditional types of drill and we provide flashcards that have Touchpoints on one side and not on the other along with timed tests. However, we also encourage educators to be realistic. Some students do not have the same long-term retention ability that others have. It is desirable, but not necessary, in the processes of everyday living, for all students to memorize math facts. In fact, students become so proficient using TouchMath, they can add a column of numbers much more quickly than another student who may have memorized their facts. It is surprising how many adults have their own patterns of touching and counting which they designed in childhood and still use today.

TOS: Do you think kids have a more difficult time memorizing facts these days? Why?

Jan:  I think children have always had a difficult time memorizing math facts. For the most part, math facts are very abstract and meaningless to children. That's why we teach the facts in first grade, reteach in second grade, reteach again in third grade, etc., and many adults still do not know their basic facts. If we stop teaching in the abstract by rote memory students will have a better understanding and better retention. We will also waste a lot less teaching time. I, myself, always had a very strong memory and was able to memorize facts but many students are not able to do that and many simply won't because they regard the facts as not understandable and useless.

TOS: Does the "math phobic" child respond to this?

Jan: Immediately. We have hundreds of stories and comments about students who were math phobic and changed completely when they saw the program. For many, it's the first time they ever understood the connection between numerals and quantity. I've had students say to me, "Is this what they've been wanting me to do all of this time?" The look in their eyes is like someone just turned on a light bulb.

TOS: Do you need to use a specific curriculum to utilize TouchMath concepts?

Jan: It's important to use materials that are very sequenced with clean, uncluttered pages and to always use the same touching/counting pattern. If students are allowed to use whatever pattern they pick or if the pattern is taught differently from grade to grade, it creates confusion for any students who have any kind of learning disability. If they are taught consistently in the same way, it is very easy to tell what goes wrong if they miss an answer. They will be either touching or counting incorrectly. This can be easily remediated.

TOS: In your catalog you offer kits for each grade level. Could this be used as the entire math curriculum, or is it merely supplemental?

Jan: TouchMath is actually a supplement. It offers no skills in measurement. It is designed to be used in conjunction with any other curriculum. As soon as students learn the Touchpoint placement and have it committed to memory they will be able to apply the concept in any situation. That said, we know that many schools and parents are using it as a curriculum and supplementing with measurement skills because the students can go so much further using TouchMath. I frequently talk to kindergarten teachers who have students who can add and subtract with or without regrouping and have already started into multiplication.

TOS: Where can our readers learn more about TouchMath?

Jan: They can call 1-800-888-9191 to talk with one of our advisors, request a catalog, or request our TouchMath teacher training video. The video walks the viewer through the steps of the basic program and is available free through our loan program. The viewer just needs to pay return postage.

TOS: Thank you so much for sharing with us about this innovative program. Parents, if you have a child struggling with math, this could be the answer you have sought!

Janet "Jan" Bullock is president and founder of Innovative Learning Concepts, Inc., parent company of TouchMath. In 1975, driven by the desire to help her sixth grade learning disabled students master computational skills, she developed this multisensory mathematical system which has proven successful for all the learning styles. Jan received her Masters in Education from Colorado College.

Christine M. Field, TOS's Resource Room columnist, practiced law for eight years before becoming a full-time mommy for her four children. Her husband serves as Chief of Police in Wheaton, Illinois. She is a freelance writer and the author of several books about homeschooling, adopting and more. www.HomeFieldAdvantage.com.