ABSTRACT
Some years ago, I took a course on teaching mathematics. It was called ‘Developing Mathematical Thinking’. As part of the course we had to try various activities with a child and notice his approach. I worked with a dyslexic 14-year-old called Alex. One of the activities was a game called ‘Shrink-A-Square’. It had been designed to teach decomposition-the ‘borrowing’ procedure in subtraction. This game had a surprising effect on Alex. I shall describe it in detail.
