UNDERSTANDING HOW CHILDREN LEARN MATH
Karen has spent years studying how children learn math — diving deep into the science behind it.
As co-author of How Children Learn Math: The Science of Math Learning in Research and Practice, she reviewed thousands of research studies on the cognitive processes involved in math learning. Her work helps teachers and parents understand how the brain learns math and how to make instruction more effective for every child.
Through her research, Karen discovered just how language-heavy and abstract math instruction has become. Many students struggle not because they can’t understand math, but because the language of math is confusing and often creates barriers to learning.
With only 32% of 4th graders and 25% of 12th graders meeting math standards nationwide, it’s clear that many students are being left behind — especially those with learning differences in reading, language, or math. Karen’s work focuses on breaking down those barriers and helping every child access the power of mathematical thinking.
Karen provides intervention for students who struggle with math and reading, online and in person, in Carbondale, Colorado. Click here to find out more!
READING, SPELLING, AND WRITING
Reading and writing are complex brain activities that require many parts of the brain to work togeth
Unlike speaking, these skills are not naturally wired into our brains — they must be taught and learned. In fact, about 10–20% of children have a specific reading disorder known as dyslexia. Dyslexia is a language-based learning difference that often stems from difficulty with phonological processing — the ability to hear and work with the sounds of language. It is not related to intelligence; in fact, many children with dyslexia are bright and creative. They simply learn to read in a different way. With the right kind of instruction, they can learn to read successfully.
Karen's unique approach.
Karen uses a structured literacy approach to teach reading, spelling, and writing — specifically a speech-to-print method. Unlike the leveled literacy approaches often used in schools, structured literacy gives children with reading challenges the explicit, systematic instruction they need to thrive — preventing years of unnecessary struggle.
Karen's individual approach to reading includes:
- Phonological Awareness – building blocks of speech, reading, writing
- Phonics – 26 letters represent 42 sounds of speech
- Spelling – using sounds and allowable letter patterns, not memorization
- Developing mental orthographic images of words – automatic recognition and visual recall of words, which is difficult for children with reading difficulty
- Morphology – understanding the parts of words that create meaning
- Vocabulary – understanding and using words meaningfully
- Visual processing – strategies to reduce skipping words and lines, seeing part of a word and guessing the rest, and adding words not in the text
- Background knowledge – necessary for comprehension
- Abstract language - inference, metaphors, sarcasm, idioms, multiple meanings, getting the joke
- Reading comprehension – what does it mean, what is the point, main ideas, and details
- Story retelling – read it, write about it, tell about it