3G Abacus

[Chris1]

What are your thoughts on this style of abacus?  The 3rd 3G Abacus-Mental Arithmetic Competition is on the 3rd of June 2012.
They claim that their system is easier to learn and only requires students to memorize 2 sets of formula which students can better relate to the mathematics they learn in school.
 
http://3gabacus.com/

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/dF6SrutAcDA&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/dF6SrutAcDA&rel=1</a>

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/EvII4caL37g&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/EvII4caL37g&rel=1</a>

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/WNjRiXmg4Ac&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/WNjRiXmg4Ac&rel=1</a>

Chris.

[TeachingMyToddlers]

I was initially attracted to this program because of the DVDs that teach it. Are there any similar DVD based programs for teaching a standard abacus?

Other than that, I have not learned enough about it yet to form an opinion, but I am very interested to know more. I like that it offers the DVDs, and if it simplifies the process and still gets the job done then it sounds great. But is this method as effective at higher levels of math? How quickly do the kids progress to mental calculations? For example, sweet little Ella progressed to visualizing the abacus in just 6-8 months if I remember correctly. I am curious if children achieve similar results with the 3G. Traditional soroban is just so tried and true!

Edited to say- I am disappointed this technique is one handed. I am really looking into a two handed program to promote total brain development. So, I will find something else.

[Chris1]

Traditional soroban is just so tried and true! - I am disappointed this technique is one handed. I am really looking into a two handed program to promote total brain development. So, I will find something else.

  They claim that the children achieve similar results and there is nothing to prevent the use of two hands on this style of abacus.  http://www.3gabacus.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=79&Itemid=1 
There isn’t much on YouTube to support their claims. The 3G abacus greatly simplifies the process and could probably be introduced at a much younger age. 
Chris.

[TeachingMyToddlers]

Interesting. I read that it translates into typical math as taught in schools a bit easier.

[Chris1]

The 3G Abacus materials are currently available on Ebay.com.sg
http://www.ebay.com.sg/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570&_nkw=3g+abacus&_sacat=See-All-Categories

The soroban might be the more practical tool, but the 3G abacus appears to be better suited to developing understanding in the initial stages.

Chris.

[Soroban]

Hey did anyone actually buy this? I still dont know what the bottom row (below the separator is for)

This is completely conjecture, but I'm not sure if you can learn anzan as easily as a Regular Soroban. I think part of the reason that it's easy to visualize numbers on a Soroban is that they're only 5 beads to keep track of per digit. But it could just be that I already know how to do it on a Soroban but don't know this one.

Tom

[Chris1]

Hi Tom,
I share your concerns about learning anzan on this type of abacus. As you state, there are only 5 beads to visualise on the soroban. I doubt, however, that there is a need to visualise all of the beads in each column. On this type of abacus you would see 1-4 as you do on the soroban (4 beads) and for 5 you would just see the red bead and for 6-9 you would only need to visualise the red and 1,2,3 or 4 beads which again is similar to the soroban.

I have still not been able to find any evidence to support their claim that anzan can be mastered with this type of abacus. The 9 beads would, however, be a good way to teach understanding of number.

Also not sure what the bottom green row is used for.

Chris

[Soroban]

Well the issue is that Anzan isn't as straight forward as you're thinking. As far as I can tell for most people who can do addition/subtraction upwards to 7 digits, the picture we visualize isn't exactly the way a Soroban looks. Its actually more like a tetris shape. The fact that the red bead moves in the same fashion as the other one's beads might be problematic.

I can definitely see the value of having 9 beads to better represent the base 10 number system we use. I prefer teaching using a Minimum of rules and the 5 bead has in my opinion created a unique set of challenges for that goal. However, I've always considered it the cost of learning anzan better, since it does a much better job compressing information compared to the Russian Abacus, and probably this one as well.

[nadia0801]

I think we will stick to traditional Soroban. There must be a good reason why it is so widely used for mental training. I've read that ancient Soroban went through changes, having a 5th earth bead, etc. Ultimately, it was simplified to 1 heaven bead and only 4 earth beads. The trend is simplification for easier visualization. Contrary to this, 3g abacus adds up even more beads. I can see the appeal to young children but isn't the ultimate goal for learning Soroban is to achieve Anzan? Just my 2 cents.

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