Abacus Training

[DomanMom]

nohayo: if your child is young enough to do Doman, he won't ever need an abacus (the intended result of doing math dots is that you can do instant math equations in your head because you can actually "see" the numbers and understand what's happening, in the same way we adults can actually "see" 2 + 2 little kids trained with dots can actually "see" 89 + 27. Therefore he won't ever need a calculator or an abacus or counting, because he will be able to do this sort of mental calculation on his own).

This is the goal, of course. I have seen it work with my own son and nephews and have seen it work with others. But in general, if you do the Doman program all the way through you won't ever need to use the abacus, except as many an interesting thing to learn about! However an abacus is a great calculation tool for kids who missed the dot window and can enable them to do very well calculations rather than being handicapped like the way most mathematical instruction leaves us.

[sb1201]

I just ordered us a soroban for the kids to use. It's nice and colorful and I hope they like it!

So far this is the simplest explanation I have found for doing basic equations on the soroban:

http://webhome.idirect.com/~totton/soroban/THE%20ABACUS%20HANDBOOK.pdf

My plan is to start out slow. I just want them to get good and quick at placing and recognizing numbers on the soroban and the we will move onto basic addition first and so on.

[Sapna1322]

Can any one tell me  whether i can use this abascus /soroban with my 2 yrs old kid?

Sapna

[DomanMom]

Can any one tell me  whether i can use this abascus /soroban with my 2 yrs old kid?

Sapna

Sapna - you can teach your child absolutely anything that you can present to him in an honest, factual, and joyous way. If you want to teach him the Soroban, he will learn it extremely fast.

However, at two years old, I would try doing the dot cards with him first. The dot cards have a lot more potential for instant arithmetic, and an actual understanding of numbers (true quantity). I see he's only 2 years 2 months - that is the perfect time to begin. My son began at 2 years 5 1/2 months.

If you do want to go ahead and teach him the Soroban, you need to start with a one-hundred-bead-abacus so he is actually getting the idea of quantity, because with a regular Soroban, one of the dots represents five, and others represent tens and hundreds, etc. He must understand what "five" and "ten" and "hundred" are before he can understand that a single bead represents those numbers. For a description of an easy-to-see abacus (one that doesn't require counting one-by-one [which can be handicapping]) see this thread:
http://forum.brillkids.com/teaching-your-child-math/abacus-training/msg7690/#msg7690

The choice is up to you - I would recommend starting with dot cards, because they demonstrate the reality of quantity in the most concrete way possible, and your child is the perfect age for them. However, if you choose to go with the abacus, go ahead and start with a one-hundred-bead one so he understands actual quantity before jumping to abstract quantity (the Soroban). Happy teaching!

[Sapna1322]

Elizabeth,
You mean to say that u started dot card with ur son when he was 21/2 yrs old??

[DomanMom]

Sapna: Yes, Hunter was 2.5 when I first read Doman's books and that is when we started dots.

[Sapna1322]

Thanx dear.Elizabeth i have posted 1 thread of my son's activities.I want ur suggestions can u please help me in that.

Sapna

[joan]

All these discussion on abacus got me really excited, so I went to China town during lunch and bought a abacus. They only sell the 1/4 abacus which was what I was looking for. I haven't touched an abacus for over 20 years, but I was able to quickly add up 1+2+3+...+36 correctly. The strange thing is that my fingers seemed to have a life of their own. If I think about the operations, then I become much slower. I learned to use abacus in China but they only taught us to do addition and subtraction. They certainly didn't take it to the next level which is the mental arithmetic.

I found this promising website http://www.cma-sg.com/cma-methodology.html They teach a 2-hand abacus technique. The video is pretty amazing: http://www.cma-sg.com/video-2.html
CMA is based in Singapore. Has anyone in Singapore tried them? Hopefully I can go to their training and take the leap from basic abacus to mental arithmetic.

[linzy]

The coolest thing about the abacus to me was a story of an interview with a five year old boy who had been suing the abacus and he solved a rather complex equation in his head and when asked how he did it he said: "I have an abacus in my head". I though that was cool that if you miss the window or your child doesn't pick up on the Doman type instant math that you can still give them the foundation of the abacus and help them use it as a framework for complicated mental math.

[KL]

Thanks for the link, Joan - very interesting indeed.

Seems like this method originated in Taiwan, and has now spread to a few more Asian countries.  It seems similar to the other 'mental abacus' methods shown in the other videos, except that this method gets the children to use both hands, on the basis that that stimulates both sides of the brain more completely. 

I think the mental imagery from having to imagine the abacus already should stimulate the right-brain, but perhaps adding an extra hand to it may also do more...

Here are some YouTube videos from the Malaysian branch:

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/FNH48LkLkAY&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/FNH48LkLkAY&rel=1</a>

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/1I50DzGXgSw&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/1I50DzGXgSw&rel=1</a>

[ksomom]

Oh wow.  I had NO idea that kids could do this sort of thing at such an early age.  These forums are quite an eye opener for me.  I hadn't even thought of looking at BrillKids math program yet, not to mention anything like an abacus!  I'm quite intrigued now and intend to continue looking into it, as well as these dot cards and Doman.  Thank you so much for sharing these links and videos.  I look forward to learning much more from all of you! 

[rixu]

sb1201 - thanks for that EXCELLENT video! Anyone who hasn't watched it yet, make sure you do - highly recommended!!

Wow, it just shows what the human mind is capable of doing!

I think that whether or not an abacus (or even abacus method) is ultimately a useful or practical tool in life, just the fact that it helps develop mental imaging powers is already more than good enough a reason to learn it!!

btw, how do you use it for multiplication and division??

WHERE IS THE VIDIO. I WISH I COULD WATCH THE VIDIO

[patreiche]

I am wondering if I can not get Colin interested in dots, if he would be more interested in an abacus. It would be more hands on and colorful, or if a combination might get more interest in math.

[angie877]

abacus is a very old method used by the chinese long time ago. My grandpa used to have it at his store where he use it to calculate and compute his accounts. I never think much of abacus till now. They have open abacus class for children for profit, while last time you can get free training from grandpa!

[Malathiprasad]

Just need a clarification regarding abacus will it not hinder with the regular way maths taught at the schools?

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