Introduction: When Math Isn’t Just Numbers
Many parents notice their children can solve straightforward equations, yet freeze when faced with a paragraph-style question. The issue often isn’t math skill — it’s math reading comprehension. Students misread, skip key words, or can’t untangle long sentences filled with conditions.
Just as reading stories requires decoding words, understanding math problems requires decoding relationships.
This is where the ITA Reading Method (Initial Teaching Alphabet) offers powerful insights. Originally designed to help children overcome early reading barriers, ITA’s phonetic and decoding principles can also help students read math more effectively.
Ⅰ. Reading vs. Math Reading — Why It’s Harder Than It Looks
In normal reading, children follow a storyline.
In math reading, they must extract facts, logic, and relationships — often hidden inside complex sentence structures.
Consider this question:
Amelia wants to buy a skateboard. There are 8 people in front of her and 22 behind. How many people are in line in total?
A simple story, yet many G2–G3 students forget to count Amelia herself.
It’s not arithmetic confusion — it’s linguistic oversight.
Or this one:
Sophia reads 18 books. Her cousin reads 3 fewer. Her best friend reads 2 fewer than the cousin. How many books does her best friend read?
Students struggle to track who has more or less, flipping the logic midway.
The difficulty isn’t computation — it’s decoding comparative structures.
These are examples of word problem comprehension challenges: children need to read like a mathematician, not just a storyteller.
Ⅱ. What Is the ITA Reading Method?
The Initial Teaching Alphabet (ITA) was developed in 1960s England to help early readers connect sound to meaning through a simplified phonetic alphabet.
Instead of memorizing irregular spellings, children learned to read fluently by decoding sounds systematically.
Its educational philosophy — reduce decoding load, strengthen comprehension — is timeless.
When applied to math, it means: help children “read” the structure of a problem, not just the words.
Ⅲ. From Letters to Shapes — Visual Learning in Early Math
In early math learning, children often struggle not because they can’t count, but because they can’t connect words with what they see.
Before students can solve problems like “8 in front, 22 behind”, they must first learn to read visual information — to match “circle,” “square,” or “triangle” with what appears on the screen or page.
That’s why many modern classrooms now combine spoken instructions with interactive visuals.
For example, an animation might say:
“Find all the circles. Count, and choose the correct number.”
As children listen and act, they’re practicing the same decoding process the ITA reading method builds for language — turning sound into understanding, and understanding into action.
(Illustration: Early-grade math animation — connecting language to visual meaning)
This bridge between language and visual comprehension becomes the foundation for later success in reading complex math problems.
Ⅳ. Applying ITA Principles to Math Word Problems
The ITA approach emphasizes structure, sequencing, and meaning before memorization — the same principles children need when reading multi-step math questions.
Example 1: G3–G4 “Pirate Rope” Problem
The pirate captain was the eighth to climb, and seven pirates were behind him. How many pirates climbed the rope?
Children must merge ordinal and quantitative reasoning.
ITA-style rewriting helps:
Captain = 8th. Seven behind. How many total?
Short, structured, and easy to visualize.
Example 2: AMC 8 “Chloe and Zoe” Problem
（AMC 8 2017）
Each solved half alone and half together. Chloe got 80% correct alone, 88% overall. Zoe got 90% correct alone. Find Zoe’s overall.
Long, nested, and easy to misread.
ITA-style breakdown:
Half alone, half together.
Chloe: 80% → 88% total.
Zoe: 90% → ? total.
By visualizing each condition, students see patterns instead of chaos.
Through ITA-style decoding, children learn to pause, separate information, and map relationships — exactly the skills missing in most math reading struggles.
Ⅴ. How Parents Can Support Math Reading at Home
You can apply ITA-style thinking even without phonetic charts or symbols.
Here’s how:
- Simplify Sentences – Rephrase problems using short, concrete phrases.
- Highlight Keywords – Mark words like “each,” “together,” “fewer than.”
- Visualize Relationships – Draw quick diagrams or tables.
- Ask for Restatements – Let your child explain the problem in their own words.
These steps reduce cognitive load and strengthen math literacy skills.
Ⅵ. From Reading Words to Reading Logic — Think Academy’s Approach
In the end, many students don’t struggle with math — they struggle with reading math.
When children learn to decode not just numbers, but the language of logic, they begin to see math as a story of relationships rather than formulas.
That’s why Think Academy Canada has developed its Math Reading & ITA-Inspired Approach, integrating language decoding, visual comprehension, and logical reasoning.
Each lesson helps students bridge reading and reasoning — building understanding from sound to symbol, from word to equation.
Want your child to read math problems with clarity and confidence?
Take free evaluation and explore Think Academy Canada’s Early Childhood and G1-4 Programs, designed to strengthen both reading comprehension and mathematical thinking through structured lessons and interactive exercises.
