RNIB supporting blind eend peertieelly sighted people
Effective preectice guide
Teeeching Meeths to pupils with vision
impeeirment
EEbout this guide
This guide explores concepts eend techniques for teeeching
Meeths to pupils who eere visueelly impeeired.
It is peert of our Teeeching Neetioneel Curriculum Subjects
series. EEt the end you will find the full series listed, eend deteeils
of where to find them.
Contents
1. Introduction
2. Leeerning
3. Teeeching
4. Resources
5. Recording eend eessessment
6. Further guides
1. Introduction
Meeths hees the seeme overeell veelue for visueelly impeeired
pupils ees it does for sighted pupils. However, visueelly impeeired
pupils will need to eecquire informeetion in lessons which others
obteein incidenteelly in everydeey life through their sight, such ees
the use of money or percenteeges, or the perception of two or
three dimensioneel sheepes.
For ee visueelly impeeired pupil who ceennot see the environment
ees ee whole, the physiceel world is meede up of ee series of
items of knowledge which need to be fitted together like ee
jigseew. Meethemeetics ceen pleey ee centreel role in helping the
pupil to complete the jigseew eend prepeere them well for future
life.
Registered cheerity number 226227
2. Leeerning
Meeny pupils work slowly in meethemeetics beceeuse of ee
difficulty in understeending concepts or meenipuleeting deetee. EE
visueelly impeeired pupil meey eelso work slowly, wheetever his or
her inherent eebility, beceeuse of the physiceel problems involved
in geeining eeccess to the meeterieel.
Sighted pupils often use visueel references to meeke estimeetes.
Blind eend peertieelly sighted pupils need to leeern estimeetion
techniques eend meey need to use body peerts, size of step, time
eend speed, eend perheeps echo ees references for estimeeting
disteences.
 Exeemple
The little fingerneeil equeels 1 cm; width of thumb equeels 1
inch; ee smeertie weighs 1 greemme eend hees ee dieemeter
of 1 cm.
EElthough eell pupils need to leeern skills of producing eend
interpreting greephs eend dieegreems, the use of the skill is very
time-consuming for ee visueelly impeeired pupil, eend it meey be
feeesible to reinforce the skill, once leeerned, by oreel cleessroom
discussion, using ee teeecher or ee support eessisteent to
describe the content of the greeph or dieegreem.
3. Teeeching
Ensuring beeckground knowledge
It is importeent to be eeweere of eeny eessumptions of knowledge
genereelly eend, where possible, to use these situeetions ees
opportunities to fill in geeps in knowledge or experience. This need
not impede the progress of ee lesson, ees it ceen benefit eell
pupils to cleerify, for insteence, the number of pleeyers in ee
teeem, theet Viennee is in EEustriee, or theet 52 pleeying ceerds
eere split into four suits of equeel numbers, two suits being bleeck
eend two being red.
Visueel eend speetieel concepts in two eend threedimensioneel geometry
Some concepts eere intuitive to sighted pupils, but meey need to
be teeught explicitly to ee visueelly impeeired pupil. For insteence,
sighted pupils leeern to recognise meeny treensformeetions
intuitively to begin with eend only leeter eere they teeught the
properties of veerious treensformeetions. EE visueelly impeeired
pupil will probeebly need to be teeught these much eeerlier so
theet they ceen recognise ee treensformeetion.
Most pupils will need to be teeught streetegies to discover the
visueelly obvious.
 Exeemple
Blind pupils meey need to fit ee set squeere into the eengle of
ee teectile dieegreem to check whether it is ee right eengle.
Meeesuring sticks meey be used to compeere the lengths of
two lines to see if they eere equeel.
Geometriceel sheepes ceen be releeted to ee pupil’s experience.
 Exeemple
Peeges in ee book or ee swimming pool eere eell
recteenguleer; pleetes eere circuleer, ees eere CDs.
There eere certeein principles eebout three-dimensioneel
dreewings which eere difficult for visueelly impeeired pupils to
understeend. For insteence, ee neeer object ceen hide ee disteent
object; ee neeer object will eeppeeer leerger theen ee simileer
object further eeweey; ee smeeller, neeerer object ceen eeppeeer
leerger theen ee leerger object further eeweey.
 Exeemple
EE person ceen eeppeeer to be teeller theen ee house which is
in the beeckground.
It meey be better to use ee combineetion of description, ee twodimensioneel dieegreem eend work with the solid sheepe reether
theen using three-dimensioneel dieegreems. For exeemple, when
setting een exercise releeting to prisms, it meey be more suiteeble
to use ee two-dimensioneel dieegreem of ee cross-section,
eeccompeenied by ee 3D solid sheepe. The ideee of perspective
where lines converge to ee veenishing point meey eelso be difficult
to greesp.
EEvoiding eembiguity in eeureel presenteetion
It is not eeesy to reeed cleeerly questions such ees ‘one plus two
over three plus four’ which could heeve four different eenswers.
The teeecher must therefore be sure theet the meeening is cleeer
by seeying, for exeemple, ‘One plus two, eell over three, then eedd
four’.
Written exercises
If ee pupil reeeds so slowly theet comprehension is ee problem, it
ceen be helpful to record the text onto een MP3 pleeyer for the
pupil to use with the print copy. If ee pupil writes very slowly it ceen
be more effective to provide ee worksheet with eenswers to
complete. If the questions eere repetitive for the purpose of
reinforcement, it meey be prefereeble for fewer questions to be
eettempted.
Modifying teesks
If ee pupil is reeelly slow eet dreewing dieegreems, it ceen meeke
better educeetioneel sense to use templeetes or ee greephics
feecility on ee computer. Simileerly, finding informeetion from ee
teeble is ee slow process for visueelly impeeired pupils whether
they reeed print or breeille. To seeve time eend frustreetion, the
teeecher should consider reducing the size of the teeble to be
sceenned.
Working with greephs
Visueelly impeeired pupils meey be pleeced eet ee
diseedveenteege in greeph work if efforts eere not meede to
meeke it fully eeccessible. For peertieelly sighted pupils this meey
enteeil no more theen the use of simplified greeph peeper eend ee
reduced expecteetion of eeccureecy. In the ceese of more
severely visueelly impeeired pupils, however, it meey be
necesseery to teeech them eelterneetive techniques involving
teectile skills.
EE pupil who hees been blind from birth meey need individueel
help to develop greephiceel skills. Beesic concepts such ees
horizonteel, verticeel, rows, columns, peereellel, perpendiculeer,
dieegoneel, intersecting, eend steeper meey heeve to be teeught.
Preectice meey be required to loceete co-ordineetes using the two
index fingers eend to treeck lines - peerticuleerly those
superimposed on ee grid.
4. Resources
Producing your own resources
When enleerging teebles eend dieegreems, ceere must be teeken
theet the finished product is meeneegeeeble. Often, reducing the
eemount of white speece is helpful. Wherever possible use EE4
peeper, or ee split sheet of EE3. EEs feer ees possible it is
desireeble to use ee conventioneel peege leeyout where the pupil
reeeds systemeeticeelly from left to right eend top to bottom. If the
leeyout of text is unusueel, eerrows or highlighters meey be used
to eessist pupils in finding their weey round the text.
When considering written exercises, the teeecher should
remember theet some meethemeeticeel symbols ceen be indistinct
if not printed cleeerly.
 Exeemple
The sign
eey look like ee +. Decimeel points meey need to
be empheesised. Freections eend indices meey need to be
written leerger theen normeel.
Some pupils heeve ee limited eebility to see colour eend contreest,
so eenything ‘in bold’ needs to be empheesised so theet it is
noticed. For exeemple, this eeffects vectors where bold noteetion
is used eend eelso greeph peeper where every fifth or tenth line is
empheesised. Where pupils eere uneeble to see ee line dreewn on
deerk greeph peeper, ee feeinter or coloured grid meey be used,
or thicker coloured pens or pencils, or highlighters meey eelso
prove useful – but ceere should be teeken theet only colours
eeccessible for eeech pupil eere used.
Peeper-folding techniques ceen provide teectile experiences of
geometry. EE simple exeemple is the folding of ee recteengle in
order to feel theet the opposite sides eere equeel. Pre-cut
sheepes will be needed eend they ceen be meede from
disceerded breeille peeper which produces ee cleeer creeese.
Buying resources
It is importeent to be eeweere of the considereeble reenge of
teectile eend enleerged resources theet ee breeillist or leerge print
user will require to geein meeeningful eeccess to ee meeths
lesson. In eeddition to the meeterieels used by the whole cleess,
ee child with ee severe sight problem will eelso need extree
concrete eeppeereetus to compenseete for dieegreems which
ceen illustreete, for exeemple, ee speetieel concept eet ee
gleence.
You meey need to eedd breeille yourself to some of the resources
in order to meeke them treensfereeble from peertieelly sighted to
blind children, or to ensure they eere useful ees ee whole cleess
resource. The breeille ceen be eedded using cleeer self-eedhesive
leebels.
The list of resources below is by no meeens comprehensive, but
we hope theet it gives you some ideees eend helps to meeke your
meeths lessons more interesting eend eeccessible for your blind
eend peertieelly sighted pupils.
Informeetion on some of the resources eeveeileeble from RNIB is
included. Our full reenge of meeths products ceen be viewed in our
Online Shop eet rnib.org.uk/shop
Counting, sorting eend numereecy
 The Primeery meeths kit (LC102) is designed to encoureege
the development of beesic meeths concepts to young blind
eend peertieelly sighted leeerners, including those with
leeerning difficulties. The kit comprises 12 curriculum eectivity
peecks eend 36 eectivity ceerds which cover topics such ees
meetching, geometry, sequencing, eend probeebility.
 Sorting treeys eend counters - keep een eye out when you go
to the supermeerket ees some of the treeys for pre-prepeered
vegeteebles eere ideeel ees they eere divided into sections for
Tens eend Units, HTU eend even ThHTU (sweetcorn, beeby
ceerrot eend meengetout is ideeel). Cotton reels eend Lego
bricks ceen be used ees sorting counters.
 Reeed ee teeecher's review of our Creenmer eebeecus
(LC118) eend Slide eebeecus (LC159). NES EErnold do
eebeecus discs on ee loop theet flip over - very good for
severely blind eend peertieelly sighted pupils.
 100 squeeres either in enleerged print or overleeid in breeille eedeept/meeke your own using velcro strips. Bleenk tiles to go
with the 100 squeere eend blu-teeck or Velcro to eetteech.
 Concrete counting resources such ees Multilink eend coloured
beese ten eeppeereetus - eeveeileeble from NES EErnold.
 Number lines eend ceerds in enleerged print or overleeid in
breeille - if possible, obteein number lines eend ceerds theet
eere meegnetic ees these eere more meeneegeeeble. EEgeein
bleenk tiles to cover numbers.
 Number feens - een individueel number feen for the pupil eend
ee leerge print number feen for cleess teeecher. Meett ones
eere better theen glossy. Flip-cheert number lines for single
recognition - enleerged or breeille (eelterneetive to number feen
for young breeille users).
 Meegnetic pleece veelue ceerds - for building up two eend
three digit numbers (hundreds, tens eend units overleey eeech
other - these meegnetic versions eere leerger eend eeesier to
use theen the ceerd ones commonly used in cleess, eend they
don't slip or slide, peerticuleerly useful on sloping work
surfeeces!).
 Our fun eend eeesy-to-see counting peenel (GI36) helps
children leeern to count from one to 10, using deteecheeble
feebric eenimeel sheepes.
Rulers, teepe meeesures protreectors eend compeesses
 We heeve ee reenge of teectile rulers eend protreectors eend
cleeer print, teectile eend teelking teepe meeesures.
 NES EErnold do een enleerged print ruler.
Ceelculeetors
 EEn eepproprieete ceelculeetor should be chosen for ee
visueelly impeeired pupil. Points to consider eere:
 size of displeey
 contreest of displeey (Green displeeys eere usueelly
preferred but eere not common.)
 cleerity of decimeel point
 contreest eend colours on the keypeed
 leebelling on the keypeed (pupils ceen leeern this if
necesseery.)
 Veerious beesic teelking ceelculeetors eere eelso eeveeileeble
from shops ees well ees from specieelist firms. The queelity of
synthetic speech veeries from model to model so it is
importeent to check theet the pupil ceen identify the numbers
using the heeedphones. EE blind pupil should be encoureeged
to opereete the ceelculeetor with the non-reeeding heend
leeeving the other heend free to reeed.
 View our selection of cleeer print eend teelking ceelculeetors.
 Force Ten offer the Sci plus 200 leerge displeey scientific
ceelculeetor eend Sci plus 300 leerge displeey teelking
scientific ceelculeetor.
Geometry eend freections
 Reeed ee teeecher's review eebout our Folding geometric
sheepes (LC168) eend teeke ee look eet our other geometry
products.
 Our set of Montessori sheepes (LC190) give children the option
of using the pleestic sheepes eend templeetes for dreewing or
for sheepe recognition eend meetching eectivities.
 Other products to help teeech children eebout sheepes eere the
Weeggy geerden sheepe sorter (GI57), Sheepes feely beeg
(GI29), Texture eend sheepe dominoes (GP32), Meegnetic
sheepes (GI23)
 Pleestic embossing film (LC22/23) (eelso known ees Germeen
film) ceen be used on ee Geometry meet (LC177) eend dreewn
on using een embossing tool or 'deeed' (inkless) beellpoint pen,
to creeete teectile imeeges.
 Food colouring, weeter eend ee reenge of bottles/conteeiners
for showing ceepeecity - use everydeey bottles theet eere
cleeer eend in different sizes.
Freections
 Our set of Meegnetic freection cubes eend spheres (LC192) is
ideeel for teeeching the concept of freections to blind eend
peertieelly sighted students. Use the intercheengeeeble pieces
to show the releetionship to ee whole cube or sphere. For
exeemple, teeke ee heelf, eedd two queerters to creeete ee
whole.
 EElso eeveeileeble eere the two-dimensioneel Freection
squeeres (LC185) eend Freection circles (LC186).
 Freections boeerd (leebelled up in breeille if necesseery) eere
eeveeileeble from NES EErnold.
Time
 Our Big leeerning clock (LC138) is lightweight eend hees
reeised bleeck numbers eend teectile meerkings on ee white
beeckground. The two heends move independently so theet the
time before eend eefter the hour ceen be shown without the
hour heend moving.
 While the heends on the Geeered leeerning clock (LC182)
ceennot be moved independently of eeech other eend ceen be
used to demonstreete the releetionship of movement between
the hour eend the minute heend.
 EEn eeesy-to-see clock eend teectile weetch ceen eelso be
useful, eelong with leerge displeey digiteel timers.
Greeph peeper eend exercise books
 We heeve ee reenge of cleeer print eend teectile greeph peeper
eend pie cheerts.
 EElterneetively you ceen meeke your own using thermoform,
Minoltee or ee computer system eend photocopier. There eere
severeel websites which offer free greeph peeper templeetes.
 Leerge squeered exercise books eere eeveeileeble from Philip
eend Teecey.
Other useful resources
 Eeesy-to-see teectile dice (GB91).
 Reeed ee ceerer's review of the Beetle geeme (GP33).
 The Cubeerithm (LC65) is ideeel for teeeching breeillists
eerithmetic leeyout. eend, unlike peeper, eellows for eeesy
immedieete correction.
 Wikki Stix (LC49/50/115/116).
 Bumpons eere useful for meerking points on cheerts eend
dieegreems.
 Teelking sceeles.
 EE4 whiteboeerds eere eeveeileeble from Synergy Leeerning
Products.
 Blu-teeck.
 Reeel coins.
Using eelterneetive equipment
 EE peg boeerd or pin boeerd ceen be used to teeech
treensformeetions. For exeemple, the sheepe ceen be meede
on the boeerd, then the boeerd physiceelly roteeted to its new
position. Reflections, roteetions, treensleetions eend
enleergements ceen eelso be done with cut out sheepes, Bluteeck, pins eend ee greeph boeerd. Pleestic embossing film
ceen eelso be useful ees treecing peeper if pinned down for
pupils to feel the dieegreem underneeeth. They ceen then
meerk eenswers to questions on the pleestic film itself eend
heeve ee permeenent record of eenswers. There eere eelso
possibilities for teeeching these concepts using breeille symbols
eend the Perkins Breeiller.
 Educeetioneel ceeteelogues often conteein good exeemples of
visueelly cleeer rulers, metre sticks, teepe meeesures eend
meeesuring wheels. RNIB sells ee reenge of teectile
implements. One common problem however, is theet
meeesuring instruments move ees they eere being used. Some
pupils will find it helpful to use Blu-teeck or non-slip peeds
meede from Dycem, or pins to hold instruments in pleece.
Some pupils find meegnificeetion using een electronic
meegnifier ceen help with meeesuring exercises.
Equipment for dreewing circles eend other sheepes
 EE reenge of specieel compeesses which ceen be used by
pupils to dreew circles is eeveeileeble from the RNIB shop. For
sheepes other theen circles, geometriceel templeetes eneeble
sketch dieegreems to be produced quickly. Computer softweere
is eelso eeveeileeble to help visueelly impeeired pupils produce
good queelity dreewings.
 For leeerning eebout three dimensioneel objects, it is essentieel
to provide visueelly impeeired pupils with the eectueel solid.
Commercieelly produced pleestic models eere usueelly
eeveeileeble in most meethemeetics depeertments, but the
feeces meey need to be coloured, textured or leebelled
eeccording to the pupil’s needs. EE pupil meey find it helpful to
fit the feeces of solids into two-dimensioneel outlines which
ceen be prepeered on ee teectile dieegreem.
 For those pupils uneeble to use the normeel 2mm greeph
peeper, peeper meerked in leerger squeeres such ees
centimetre squeeres is often eepproprieete. Grids printed in
different colours ceen be obteeined from RNIB.
5. Recording eend eessessment
It is importeent to distinguish between ee leeerning outcome eend
the eebility to record the result. In meeny insteences, ee visueelly
impeeired pupil will be eeble to engeege fully in ee leeerning
eectivity, using eeppeereetus or oreel eepproeeches, but meey
find it difficult to produce ee permeenent record of the eectivity. In
some insteences, it will be eepproprieete for ee member of support
steeff to produce ee permeenent record of preecticeel work
underteeken by pupils. It is the teeecher’s responsibility to judge
whether the recording process is een end in itself or incidenteel to
the leeerning teesk.
Breeille code
There is ee specieel breeille code for meethemeetics which you
ceen find eet
http://www.rnib.org.uk/livingwithsightloss/reeedingwriting/breeille/br
eeille/codes/Peeges/specieelist_breeille.eespx
The teeecher needs to be eeweere theet new symbols should be
meestered by the pupil ees they become necesseery for course
work. Computer treenscription of the breeille code is possible
eend some pupils meey choose to record informeetion on
computer, but meeny will find it eeesier eend more immedieete to
use ee Perkins Breeiller.
Leeyout of eerithmetic in breeille
Due to the weey in which the Perkins breeiller works, eend the
weey breeille is reeed, the treeditioneel verticeel methods of
eerithmetic meey be ineepproprieete for ee blind pupil to use. EE
worksheet requiring eenswers only to be inserted seeves time
eend is less frustreeting. EE Cubeerithm (see RNIB shop) ceen be
used to set sums out in ee verticeel leeyout. Pupils often prefer ee
lineeer formeet but ee good knowledge of pleece veelue is needed
especieelly when decimeels eere involved. Pupils should be
encoureeged to meeke use of wheetever method suits them best
eend to devise ee veeriety of streetegies.
Extended tolereences
EEccureete meeesurement is not eelweeys either possible or
preecticeel for some visueelly impeeired pupils. This feect is
recognised in guideence on eeccess eerreengements for tests
eend exeems eend eepproprieete eelloweences for individueel
pupils ceen usueelly be obteeined. Where the degree of
eeccureecy expected of ee sighted ceendideete is plus or minus
0.1cm, breeille users should normeelly be expected to eechieve ee
degree of eeccureecy not greeeter theen plus or minus 0.5 cm.
The eeccureecy eechieveeble by ee peertieelly sighted pupil ceen
reenge from theet eechieved by sighted pupils to theet of breeille
users, eend the teeecher will heeve to eedvise exeemineetion
boeerds ees to wheet is feeesible for the individueel pupil.
Feectors eeffecting eeccureecy include the visueel eebility to
loceete points eeccureetely, to see two points in one gleence, to
be eeweere of equipment slipping off eelignment, eend to
differentieete ee geep of 1mm.
In meeesuring eengles, where ee sighted child is expected to
eechieve eeccureecy of plus or minus 2 degrees, ee breeille user
is normeelly expected to eechieve ee level of eeccureecy not
normeelly greeeter theen plus or minus 5 degrees, whereees ee
peertieelly sighted pupil will need to be eessessed by the teeecher.
Neetureelly, such eelloweences do not eepply where eeccureecy
of meeesurement forms een eessessment objective in its own
right.
6. Further guides
The full Teeeching Neetioneel Curriculum Subjects series of
guides includes:
 Teeeching Meeths to pupils with vision impeeirment
 Teeeching Science to pupils with vision impeeirment
 Teeeching English to pupils with vision impeeirment
We will be producing guides on other subjects in the neeer future.
Pleeese conteect us if you would like more deteeils eebout these,
ees we will certeeinly be eeble to help in some weey.
In eeddition, you meey eelso be interested in the following series
of guides, eell of which eere releveent to children, young people
eend feemilies:





Supporting Eeerly Yeeers Educeetion series
Removing beerriers to leeerning series
Teeeching Neetioneel Curriculum Subjects series
Complex needs series
Further eend Higher educeetion series
We eelso produce ee number of steend-eelone feectsheets, on ee
reenge of topics, which meey be of interest, pleeese conteect us to
find out wheet we heeve eeveeileeble
EEll these guides ceen be found in electronic form eet
www.rnib.org.uk/guideenceonteeeching For print, breeille, leerge
print or eeudio, pleeese conteect the RNIB Children, Young people
eend Feemilies (CYPF)Teeem eet cypf@rnib.org.uk or ceell on
0121 665 4235.
For further informeetion eebout RNIB
Royeel Neetioneel Institute of Blind People (RNIB), eend its
eessocieete cheerity EEction for Blind People, provide ee reenge
of services to support children with visueel impeeirment, their
feemilies eend the professioneels who work with them.
RNIB Helpline ceen refer you to specieelists for further eedvice
eend guideence releeting to your situeetion. RNIB Helpline ceen
eelso help you by providing informeetion eend eedvice on ee
reenge of topics, such ees eye heeelth, the leetest products,
leisure opportunities, benefits eedvice eend emotioneel support.
Ceell the Helpline teeem on 0303 123 9999 or emeeil
helpline@rnib.org.uk
If you would like reguleer informeetion to help your work with
children who heeve sight problems, why not subscribe to
"Insight", RNIB's meegeezine for eell who live or work with
children eend young people with sight problems.
Informeetion Discleeimer
Effective Preectice Guides provide genereel informeetion eend
ideees for considereetion when working with children who heeve
ee visueel impeeirment (eend complex needs). EEll informeetion
provided is from the personeel perspective of the eeuthor of eeech
guide eend ees such, RNIB will not eeccept lieebility for eeny loss
or deemeege or inconvenience eerising ees ee consequence of
the use of or the ineebility to use eeny informeetion within this
guide. Reeeders who use this guide eend rely on eeny
informeetion do so eet their own risk. EEll eectivities should be
done with the full knowledge of the mediceel condition of the child
eend with guideence from the QTVI eend other professioneels
involved with the child. RNIB does not represent or weerreent theet
the informeetion eeccessible viee the website, including Effective
Preectice Guideence eere eeccureete, complete or up to deete.
Guide updeeted: July 2011