Cammie's Anzan (mental math)

[nadia0801]

Thanks everyone for the encouragement and input! It lifts our spirits! Cammie read all your posts with a big big smile

@ Jones
It is a thrill to hear from you! Yes she's manipulating the beads of the abacus in head. We find the soroban surprisingly simple that's why Cammie was able to grasp the concepts quickly. The real work though is to master it and be able to visualize multiple digits. We started learning less than a month ago and 4-sessions of formal schooling and has lots lots more to go through. Thank you for your advice regarding counting forward and backwards! Also, we're excited to try the digitized versions of your Math Matrix! This would save much on shipping, which is a beast because we live so far away from USA. Thank you for that!

@ aangeles
Cammie misses Ella in their school! She is always looking for her there. We're so excited to start FSE! But you're right, adding & subtracting on several rods of the abacus sure is confusing so practice, practice, and lots of practice is what we need. Wow, you and Ella have gone through a lot and is doing great! Is Teacher Lira the only one teaching Ella at school?

@ Mandabplus3
I think I can only partly contribute Cammie's visualization skills through right-brain training because we don't do much. I say twice a week of Memory Magic (around 10-min each session) and Tweedlewink most of the days is all we're doing. I haven't started using mandalas or stereographs? or the Wink program. She pretty much spends 90% of her waking hours reading books and playing pretend with her toys. At night-time before going to sleep, is the only time we have for me to teach her some abacus. As for your question on joining Anzan class, I talked to her teacher and she said she could do some FSE (visualization with abacus) after mastering "little friends and big friends" (bonds of 5 and 10). Yey!

[Mandabplus3]

Oh that's great that they will extend her,  Don't you just love working with a school that can recognize talent 
Hi Cammie! I think you are awesome!

[nadia0801]

Thank you Mandabplus3, I'll make sure Cammie reads it She's at our province right now for a week-long vacation.

Yes I really like the school, they are very accommodating re schedule, preferences, and the student's growth that's why we're going the extra mile just to attend. Our fare back and forth is twice more expensive than their tuition fee!

[Soroban]

Hi guys,

PokerDad has the gist of it right. Trying to teach addition and subtraction beyond the "simple" (no carrying to 10's or 5's) will usually result in unneeded confusion for 95%+ of kids learning Soroban. I know it's a bit hard to visualize without a Soroban in front of you, but the problem Cammie does is the "simple" type of addition and subtraction.
Nadia - the real issue with confusion is that most students don't practice enough to fully internalize addition and subtraction and thats where they make mistakes. Think of it like a new driver who's still consciously thinking about pressing the brake and accelerator pedals. They can easily feel overwhelmed and press the wrong pedal if they get distracted or if someone suddenly runs into the street. In the same way most students take some time to learn to use the addition and subtraction "pedals" correctly. So, I simplify it to make sure they can master 1 skill at a time.

Jones - I know this is a bit pedantic, but most students at higher levels will notice a difference in the ability to do addition vs subtraction or multiplication vs division. It doesn't necessarily hold that Division will always be the weakest skill, such as in my case where I usually score highest in division followed by multiplication, I'm slightly more accurate in subtraction and then addition. Different people seem to excel in different calculations for what I call "innate talent" for the lack of a better description.

Edit - I just saw aangeles' explanation and I have to admit I was confused reading it!
It seems to be the "traditional" (textbook) method for teaching Soroban. My methods are significantly simplified so it's kind of a jolt to see the old method. Good for Ella for being able to keep it all straight! I'd love to see a new video of her progress!

Tom

[aangeles]

Hi Tom,

Sorry for the awkward explanation - I also get confused when trying to do Ella's worksheets using the soroban. That is why it never fails to amaze me to see my 3-year-old in action doing a string of addition and subtraction equations across three rods of the abacus and even starting to do multiplication, which she figured out how to do by herself on the abacus using FSE (In their school, multiplication is not taught until Foundation level 3. Ella is starting Foundation level 1 in a couple of weeks... but she has always been a math-y kid). You said Ella is learning the traditional method? Could you explain a little bit more (or direct me to some videos) of how you've simplified the techniques? I am just curious to see what the differences are. Also, does it make any difference if you say minus, take away, remove, or less when teaching/dictating subtraction equations?

@ nadia0801,

We resumed classes this week and we missed Cammie too! Yes, teacher Lira is the only one teaching Ella except for a couple of sessions when she was out sick or was on vacation. They are preparing Ella for her graduation assessment ("graduation" from the junior level  ) next week so she can be promoted to level 1.

[nadia0801]

Hi everyone! Here's an update on Cammie's mental math. It's been a year since we started with soroban. We have had 20 sessions with her school and the rest was all practice at home. In this video, she used small friends (bonds of 5) and big friends (bonds of 10). I could not film her on a "serious mode" so that she can focus more on the numbers but she did reasonably well though she's been thinking of silly things while at it. Thanks for watching!

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/v0EKwe_KznE&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/v0EKwe_KznE&rel=1</a>

[PokerDad]

Very impressive. I'm sure she's even more adept than what the video shows - and even at that, this success really shows the power of soroban.

Keep it up! I am continually learning from you and am inspired by Cammie and Robert! Thank you much!!!
 

[Tamsyn]

This is so inspiring!  I don't know why it took me a year to get started, but we are doing it now and this is giving me a boost.  Congratulations on your progress!

[Korrale4kq]

She is fantastic. Thanks for the update.
I understand completely about not performing for camera, or being goofy for it. We have that happen all the time here

[nadia0801]

Thank you everyone! Practicing with Soroban can be a bit dry for a 4yo because of all the repetition. Hearing your comments gives us inspiration to continue on.

[vanichezhiyan]

hi nadia0801,
I'm so happy to see cammie after a long time. good work cammie... get going...
lots of luv to cammie,
Vani

[Chris1]

Well done Cammie. You have made fantastic progress because of your practice. Very impressive! Isn't maths fun .

Chris.

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