There is an old saying – “Everything that glitters is not gold”. Is this statement also true for Abacus classes for kids? in our series of monthly blogs to spread awareness about Abacus for kids, let’s dive deeper into this interesting question today.
In our day to day lives, you will notice a common pattern that most people tend to go with the flow. Which means they take the path chosen by the majority of people, without much thinking. The reason is that most people feel safer to follow the mainstream. However, when it comes to the education of children, I strongly believe that as parents we must do our own research to choose the right course for our kids.
As a chief trainer of Mathcruise, I often have interesting conversations with many parents.
Last week during the PTM of my son at his school, I met one of the parents who recently came to know about Abacus for kids, from one of his close friends who had enrolled his daughter into Abacus online classes at SIP Abacus academy a few weeks back. That parent was quite excited about Abacus since Abacus classes seemed to have become quite a buzzword in the world of Maths and everyone wants to give something new to their kids. He was planning to enroll his child also into Abacus, but when I enquired him about the benefits of Abacus, he didn’t have much information, which sounded strange to me. Then I suggested him to to approach the study center from where his friend’s daughter was learning abacus and when he spoke to the teacher to understand the benefits of Abacus, he was told that Abacus is primarily used to strengthen the arithmetic calculations and enables the child to do all the calculations mentally, without the use of paper and pen.
While this is true, you must note that this is not the complete truth. Abacus is much much more than just the arithmetic calculations.
As a parent I always do my own research especially when it comes to academics. And in today’s world, researching anything has become so much easier thanks to the plethora of knowledge on the internet and the world of AI. As an expert in Abacus training, I would like to share the truth and hidden facts about Abacus with my fellow parents in this article. But first, let’s start with the basics.
Abacus can simply be defined as the world’s oldest analog calculator, when mankind did not have the luxury of digital calculators. An Abacus device is a physical rectangular tool which is either wooden or plastic based, consisting of many beads. The purpose of beads is to represent a number as per the Abacus formula, and these formulas are taught to children during the Abacus training.
Ancient civilizations in Japan and China made heavy use of the Abacus tool in their daily lives, and in fact Japanese people even today proudly teach Abacus to their children.
I am sure most people would have seen Abacus based education toys with the toddlers, something like below. The reason why these Abacus based toys are highly popular is that the beads develop the ability to learn and process numbers in the young kids, as part of fun. Proven scientifically, child psychologists strongly recommend Abacus toys for all toddlers.
When it comes to Abacus training, the tool looks like the following. Please be aware that the number of rods (columns) can vary from 7, 17, 23 or even higher like 27. The Abacus tool with a higher number of rods is typically needed at very advanced levels where kids need to do calculations of very large numbers like 10 digit or more.
Surprisingly, the answer is YES. Abacus is a great long term investment with wonderful returns.
And this is what most parents are not aware of. Abacus indeed offers great long term benefits, most important of which are:
Humans have two brains, Left and Right brain. All our logical actions like walking, driving, and even eating are driven by the left brain. The right brain is developed only via creative actions like painting, or music or dance. In absence of these creative actions, the right brain becomes dormant in most kids.
Interestingly, Abacus is based on ‘Visualization’ technique where the child imagines a picture of an Abacus tool in his brain and then updates that picture for each calculation step. This imagination (or Visualization) is categorized as a creative action, and stimulates the right brain, leading to much faster overall brain development.
Abacus trained kids are able to do arithmetic calculations so fast and accurately as compared to their peers, that it automatically induces high confidence in them. And we all know that confidence is the key to success in all spheres of life.
The greatest advantage of Abacus in my mind is the removal of fear of Maths. Abacus trained kids become so accustomed to numbers that they can solve complex arithmetic calculations even in their sleep, and that too without using paper and a pen. And when young kids are not afraid of numbers, they will never be fearful of Maths.
We recommend the Abacus program for kids in the age group of 5 – 15 years. And sooner the better, for the following key reasons:
Hence its NOT recommended for kids older than 15 years to learn Abacus. For these kids, there are other much more valuable Math programs like the Vedic Maths classes or the Olympiad preparation classes, which they will find more interesting and also useful in the school curriculum.
Well, to be honest Abacus classes are helpful for most kids. There are very few scenarios when at Mathcruise we do not recommend a child to join Abacus classes. These scenarios are mentioned below:
Remember that Abacus is a slow-paced program, and can be learnt effectively only with rigorous practice. A typical Abacus program takes between 24-27 months usually, and of course parents can take a decision to drop in between; however to achieve any meaningful results we recommend attending a minimum of 6-9 months of Abacus classes, post which a child is able to effectively do double digit calculations. So if anyone is expecting magical results in 1-2 months, then Abacus is not a program for you.
At Mathcruise we believe in assessment based learning and hence we always have an interaction with the child to understand his learning needs. During the interaction we evaluate him against his ongoing school curriculum. We enroll the child in our online Abacus classes only if he is fully up to speed in his school curriculum .
As a parent you must know that Abacus is a supplementary Math program. The main focus must always remain on the school Math, and it is very important to ensure that the kids are confident in the school, else that gap will gradually become way too huge to fill. Once the kids achieves the desired competence in school Maths and additionally he has got sufficient time to attend Abacus classes (usually two classes of 1 hr each, in a week), only then we recommend a child to enroll into Abacus.
Understanding of basic numbers from zero to ten, and the simple concept of addition and subtraction are an important prerequisite for the Abacus course. Usually 80% of 5 yr old kids develop this understanding fairly well, and just in case your child is not
Let us ask a simple question. Does any child ever get confused in pronunciation during a conversation if he knows multiple languages, for example Hindi (his mother tongue) and English? I am sure you would agree that the answer is NO
Similarly, Abacus is a different language to learn and solve Maths problems. A child can never get confused in school Maths due to Abacus training. On the contrary, once he develops a good hold in Abacus technique, it immensely helps him positively in school Maths and gives a clear edge over his peers since he can solve complex arithmetic questions much faster (mentally) and with 100% accuracy.
We captured this topic in this article since some parents seem to have this baseless fear in their mind. If you ever come across any child who is actually getting confused due to Abacus, then the reasons need to be understood. Some of the possible reasons could be as below (but not limited to)
It’s difficult for us to comment and we would not want to speak on school’s behalf. However we just want to share some simple facts and hypothesis in this context; and parents should decide for themselves:
Most parents do not realize these long term benefits of Abacus classes, and I found out that many Abacus training schools also fail to educate parents about these. Which is why at Mathcruise training academy our chief trainer very clearly articulated these benefits in this blog and reiterates this in every pre-admission counselling session for parents.
After this counselling session, parents are able to realize the true benefits of Abacus classes for kids. As an abacus expert I can confidently share my point of view that Abacus is not just a trend but a wonderful phenomenon and the gift of lifetime confidence to your child.
One of the parents told me recently that after 6 months of Abacus online classes with Mathcruise, she can see tangible differences in her son’s ability to focus. Even the school teachers in the last Parent Teacher meeting called out the noticeable improvement in her ability to grasp things and that she sounds much more confident. The school teacher asked the parent what were they doing differently, and this positive feedback from school teachers brought a satisfying smile to that parent.
And one smile to the children and their parents is priceless for Mathcruise, so we are continuing in our mission to remove fear of Maths via the Abacus course.
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.
We aim to remove fear and phobia of Maths from the minds of children in the 5 – 15 yrs age group, by using fun-filled learning techniques such as Abacus, Vedic Maths, School Maths.
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