Our History

Numicon maths shapes and numeracy teaching resources grew out of a classroom based research project funded by the Teacher Training Agency carried out between 1996 and 1998 by Numicon authors Ruth Atkinson, Romey Tacon and Dr Tony Wing. They sought to discover why it was that so many children failed in arithmetic where they were successful in all other curriculum areas. They wanted to find out whether using visual structured imagery would support children’s arithmetic understanding. Through the research a programme of teaching activities was devised using Numicon maths shapes in a multi sensory way that would be easily followed by teachers and make maths fun for learners. This programme has formed the basis of the Numicon teaching programme. For further information please go to Research.