Activities

Pic - Abacus demonstration at St. John High School

The Benefits of Teaching Children Maths Using Abacus

While we all want our kids to achieve greatness in life, it’s important to acknowledge that early childhood is the most crucial growing period of a human life in terms of emotional, intellectual, physical and social development. While it’s a scientific fact that human brain growth is at its peak potential in early childhood, it’s also a fact that all children process information differently. No child is the same, and while some children learn better through reading, others learn better through doing – which brings us to the topic of maths!

Let’s be honest, kids don’t like maths. In fact, according to research, most adults loathe it too. Interestingly, many adults feel that if they could have been exposed to a smarter way of learning maths as a child, then their outlook would be a far more pleasant one. For most kids, maths is extremely difficult and boring, and unless an interest is taken in learning it from a young age, they will always have a love-hate relationship with it. So how do we get our kids interested in learning maths? One of the best and most successful proven ways in which to make the subject of maths more attractive and interesting is with abacus maths.

It is difficult to imagine counting without writing numbers, but there was once a time when all we had were our hands and fingers. And as numbers became bigger, many started using stones, beads and sticks, which is how abacus maths was born. Also called a counting board or calculating table, the first Chinese abacus was invented around 500 BC, and the abacus that we use today is still widely used by many in Asia, Africa and elsewhere.

An arithmetic method based on the principles of abacus calculation, abacus maths is considered to be one of the fastest ways of calculating and learning maths. Faster than a calculator, not only does abacus maths gift young learners the opportunity to shine in the language of maths from a really young age, but it also provides a solid foundation for learning the language of maths in primary and high school. Besides enhancing the overall comprehension of maths – other important benefits of abacus maths include the following:

• Boosts better and faster calculation skills.
• Increases endurance for stress and pressure.
• Improves problem-solving abilities.
• Teaches clearer logical reasoning.
• Sharpens concentration and observance.
• Develops confidence and self-esteem.
• Heightens stronger mental visualisation skills.
• Betters reading and writing.
• Enhances photographic memory.
• Sharpens listening skills.
• Makes mathematics meaningful, useful and fun.
• Provides a solid learning foundation for addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.
• Increases memory power and sharpens overall mental formation.

Largely determined by our external environment, rather than our genes, every human has the same chance of maximising their intelligence. We are all born with an immature brain, which is why using the right learning tools in early childhood development is so important. So why not give your little one a chance in life and enrol them in a school that offers abacus maths.