Help Your Child with Dyslexia Learn Arabic Numbers

Learning to count, read and write, from one to ten in Arabic can be challenging when you experience difficulties in the language (English) of your home country (Australia)!  To say the least! We have a dyslexia and dysgraphia diagnosis in our house which causes some struggles in learning Arabic.

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From birth my children have been encouraged to speak my language (English) and my husband’s home language (Arabic) – My husband is an English teacher which causes some confusion for many people.

A late dyslexia diagnosis, means that we still struggle with the basics but have developed some fun strategies for learning. When I started out with this exercise I was going to show you numbers from 1 to 100. Fortunately, reality set in, but not until after the cards were made (12 cards are a better fit on the A4 page so I made 1 to 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100 – so I could use them later)! One step at a time! Numbers from 1 to 10 first!

I will add free link to .pdf file here: https://springbrookorbillabong.wordpress.com/2019/05/24/cards-for-learning-arabic-numbers/

Steps we use to learn numbers in Arabic:

Numbers and Names:

1 – one – ١ – wahad -واحد –

2 – two – ٢ – ithnaan – اثنان –

3 – three – ٣ – thalaatha- ثلاثة –

4 – four – ٤ – arba3a – أربعة –

5 – five – ٥ – khamsa – خمسة –

6 – six – ٦ – sitta – ستة –

7 – seven – ٧ – sab3a – سبعة –

8 – eight – ٨ – thamaaneya – ثمانية –

9 – nine – ٩ – tis3a – تسعة –

10 – ten – ١٠ – 3ashara – عشرة-

Add Music

Adam as Mishmish on Youtube sing numbers 1 – 10: https://youtu.be/b5cOSaOu9lA

I love the tune for the first 21 seconds (numbers 1 to 10,  repeat) on this youtube numbers video. What follows after 21 seconds is an Islamic  song about numbers: https://youtu.be/fJ50Po9_yYo

I find counting the numbers on your fingers as you sing. So you learn to associate a picture of the right number of fingers with the number you are singing, not just a number on the screen. This way you can feel the numbers too. I just developed my own counting system with my fingers, however a much better idea would have been to use the Sign Language Numbers chart. (Most children at school in Australia  are taught to sign the Alphabet and Numbers).

http://localhost/raisingworld/2018/07/09/teaching-mother-tongue-children-foreign-country/

Card Games

Print three full number charts from .pdf above or any you like from the internet

• The first copy I like to laminate so I can read the numbers and names in order.
• For the other two copies – use two pieces of differently colored card, or two different A4 colored papers and laminate them. Then cut, following the black line, to make two separate piles of 10 cards. (12, or 20 cards)
• Play card games:

Card Game 1

Matching card games – use two sets of matching cards and lay them face down on the floor. Then each taking turns turn over a card, read it number (for little count the number of spots to find the number), next turn over another card to see if it matches. (Having two different colored card sets means you can look for a card in either color to match so 10 cards to match is an easier task when you want a 6/٦ in red and green).

If it matches you keep the cards and have another turn. If it does not match, turn the cards back over and it is the next player’s turn.

Card Game 2

Play the adapted to learning Arabic numbers version of my favorite card game ever “Go fishing” –  So add number struggles and a game without pencil and writing paper needed. To play: With two players, two different colored sets of 1-10 cards. (Make the learning as easy as possible. If you have a red card you want the green one to match). For extra players either add another two sets of different colored 1-10 Cards or use 2 sets of 1-20 Cards.

Deal 5 cards to each player. Put the rest of the cards in the center to make the fishing pile. First person looks at their cards and chooses one to ask for. (Do you have… “ثمانية  thamaaneya (8) ٨ ” (If you don’t know the number count the spots).

If the person asked does. They give the matching card to the person asking. Then have another turn. If the person does not have the card they say “pick up a card (Go fishing)” and it is the next person’s turn. The person with the most pairs when all the cards are matched wins.

Card Game 3

Last card game is the “Arabic Number Card” version of “snap”. Deal all of the cards out to all the players. Don’t look at the cards. Taking turns, first person puts a card face up in the middle and reads and says the number on the card. If they do not know the name count the number of spots to work out the name.

Then the next person puts a card on top of it quickly, if it is a matching card, the first person whose hand covers the cards and says “snap” gets the cards. The game continues until all of the cards are with one person, who is then the winner.