Abacus for kids is one of the oldest Mathematics techniques that provides a unique edge to your child in today’s competitive world. An Abacus-trained child will be way ahead of his peers (we will elaborate this in detail in this article) but at the same time you must remember that it’s not an accomplishment that comes easily. You need to take the pain of spending quality time and effort; and be disciplined and patient to reap the benefits of Abacus Maths classes. Let’s start with the basics first before we go deep into the advantages of Abacus for kids.
What is Abacus
Have you ever wondered how people did mathematical calculations in ancient times when digital calculators did not exist? Yes, we know that more you think, the more intriguing this gets. Isn’t it interesting?
Now let’s answer the question ‘What is Abacus’. In simple words, Abacus can be defined as the oldest calculator that mankind has been using since ages. But of course, it is not digital, it is just a wooden frame consisting of rows and columns of simple beads. Now comes the question – ‘Why beads? This is because beads have proven to be the most efficient method to teach counting to the kids at an early age. Even today in modern times, you must have observed that in almost every household in every country, parents give the Abacus based educational toys to toddlers which immensely help them in learning counting, and that too in a fun-filled way.
How does Abacus work
The Abacus teaching methodology is based on hand-eye-ear coordination where all these senses collectively coordinate to give the desired result. The child listens to the number as spoken by the trainer, and uses his finger movement to move the beads on the Abacus tool. The trainer provides special instructions to the child to:
- Represent any number via beads on the tool, based on the unit and tens position of the number
- Add (or increment) the number by moving beads on the physical tool
- Subtract (or decrement) the number by moving beads on the physical tool
The child repeats this process for every number. As a result of this continuous and regular practice over a few months, all the senses become super active and responsive, which leads to higher and higher speed and accuracy.
What is Visualization Abacus Technique?
In advanced stages, a child becomes so perfect that he does not even need the physical tool to do the bead movement. He just imagines and creates the picture of the tool in his mind, and updates that image to reflect the movement of beads to represent the actual result after each number. As soon as the trainer speaks the last number, the child is able to provide the final answer immediately. Isn’t it amazing? If you are new to Abacus and reading this for the first time, you would find it hard to believe and you must see this amazon phenomenon live with your naked eye.
Advantages of Abacus
We are listing below some of the amazing benefits of Abacus. However, note that the actual benefits are many more that we cannot even list here. This is because Abacus leads to overall brain development which further leads to so many benefits that cannot be imagined or quantified by anyone. As a parent only you can see those benefits in your child and some of those examples are improved retention power, and quickly grasping any information whether its book reading or learning the chapter of the school textbook.
- Brain Development – We already saw above how Abacus works via visualization. The overall process leads to tremendous brain development as proven in scientific studies, since children are trained to use both hands while working on the Abacus tool. This ensures that both the right brain and left brain are activated.
- Increased focus and concentration – Increased brain power automatically leads to higher focus and concentration. A child grasps everything much faster, be it reading or learning, or the core analytical thinking abilities. You must understand that this cannot be measured in quantitative terms, but can only be relatively measured by the child himself or by his parents.
- Mental Math Skill development – In the initial stages a child can solve the basic arithmetic calculations (like single digit addition and subtraction) and in the advanced stages he is able to perform even the complex calculations like decimal based division and multiplication – all without using any calculator.
- Super-fast arithmetic calculations – You will be amazed with the speed at which Abacus-trained kids can perform these calculations, they literally beat the calculator. The child who has mastered the art of Abacus is often called the ‘Human Calculator’. It can easily be proven in a fun way where the trainer speaks multiple numbers to add or subtract. If you try and perform those calculations using a calculator, you will find that the Abacus-trained child will speak the final number before you since he does not need to type the keys on calculator digitpad. He is simply doing it in his mind, and hence he has the speed advantage.
- Develops a strong foundation for basic Mathematics – It is proven that an Abacus trained child has a much more solid Maths foundation and hence he is able to understand all the new Maths concepts much more easily.
- Removes dependency on digital calculators – A lot of exams do not allow use of calculators these days. In such situation if a child knows Abacus, he will have a clear edge over his peers.
- Removes fear of Math from the mind of children – This is one of the most important benefits that we often undermine. As a parent this is the best gift you can give to your child, so that he remains confident and never lags behind in Maths which is actually a life skill. We all know that most children have some kind of fear of Maths, which stops them from giving their best to learn Maths. Abacus removes this fear which in turn opens the floodgates of learning. For more information, read our blog: How To Overcome Maths Phobia
- Learning in a Fun way via visual representation – In the end, if we are able to provide education to our children in a fun way, can we ask for anything more? Abacus is truly a fun based education system where children do not even realize that it’s part of academics.
Abacus practice
- It is important to understand that practice is a must to effectively learn Abacus for better brain development. We strongly recommend daily practice of 5-10 min for best result
- If a child does not practice for the whole week but adds up the daily practice time and practices for 1 hour on the seventh day it is just not going to help.
- The human brain need constant daily learning to master this art, so go with the professional recommendation. Remember that consistency is the secret to success here.
- Overall, we must be patient if we have to reap the benefits of Abacus. Usually, it needs a minimum of 6 months to see some tangible results where a child is able to perform basic calculations via visualization. To complete the advanced levels, usually 24-27 months duration is needed, so plan accordingly and join the course only if you are committed for that much time duration. You may often hear from parents that Abacus is not helpful or their children could not learn Abacus effectively. Most common reason in those cases is that the child did not practice consistently, or was not patient enough to continue learning for the minimum time duration. At Mathcruise we guarantee that if y9uo follow the basic guidelines, you will learn Abacus like a cake walk.
Abacus model for kids
There are different types of Abacus models available
- For toddlers or young children, it is usually in the form of a toy or a game that they just explore and learn on their own. See picture below
- For students who want to learn Abacus technology in a professional way, usually there are two models. It can either be a wooden frame or a plastic frame. You can go with any based on your preference.
- And lastly there are different sizes. For example, it comes with a 13 rod or 17 rod or 21 rod. Again, for younger children, we can go with 13 rod-based tools, but as you progress to higher levels with bigger numbers, you will need to upgrade to more rods.
Conclusion
If you are reading the conclusion, it is evident that you are mesmerized by the fantastic benefits of Abacus and how it works. So if you are willing to commit and put in the effort in a disciplined manner, contact our Mathcruise team today to speak to our chief trainer Meenu Gupta, who holds an international certification and is passionate for Maths. Her goal is to remove fear of Maths from the minds of children and teach them in a fun-filled way. Watch our demo videos here (you have to watch it to believe it), and reach out to us today to know more details about Abacus or to find when our next batch is getting started.
Start your Abacus journey today by joining the growing Mathcruise family!
Tanmay Gupta, a specialist in mathematics, possesses a deep passion for the subject. He has been involved with Mathcruise since its inception and takes pride in being a part of the growing Mathcruise family. Tanmay excels in both Abacus and Vedic Mathematics and is particularly interested in developing innovative methods to effectively engage with children, aiming to eliminate their fear of mathematics.
