What is abacus math?

Abacus is a method used to improve mathematical skills in kids intelligently and playfully. It is considered to be the fastest way of learning math thereby helping improve the problem-solving ability of kids.

It’s an ancient multi-sensory calculating tool, that helps kids understand math easily and interestingly. Abacus a Chinese calculator also called “Suanpan” and has been used for more than 2,000 years back.

It consists of a wooden frame divided by a horizontal bar into upper and lower sections. The vertical wires consist of beads from top to bottom. The part of the wire is referred to as heaven or upper deck, and the area below the bar is referred to as “Earth” or lower deck.

In this tool, the lower bead has a value of one and the upper bead has a value of 5. The abacus method is used to perform math problems like addition, subtraction, multiplication, and even extraction of square-roots and cubic roots.

Advantage of Abacus maths

Higher sense of reasoning power – The abacus learning tool doesn’t need a pencil and paper or mechanical calculators as it relies on visual working memory.

It improves concentration – it is normal for the child to get distracted especially while they are learning math, but in abacus math, the child gets more focused and starts visualizing the movements of beads in mind. This exercise helps the child to apply the same logic in their day-to-day lives thereby increasing their concentration.

Development of long- and short-term memory – with abacus the child learns to analyze and solve complex calculations mentally and when they apply the same technique to the other subjects outside mathematics they are in well position to solve it with ease as it keeps the child’s mind sharp.

Critical thinking skills – abacus math helps the child improve hand-eye coordination which stimulates the right side of the brain. Such child becomes multi-tasking and performs well in other extracurricular activities such as sports, music, and other subjects that enhance mind development and the capability of “thinking out of the box”

Self–reliance – once the child develops the skill of problem-solving on their own, their sense of confidence grows higher encouraging them to solve the problems one after another on their own.

What is the right age to learn Abacus?

Actually, there is no right age for learning abacus or Vedic math as it is a fun way to help the child learn math, however, we recommend the child can start learning abacus anywhere between 4-5 years of age till 14 years. But at this age, it is more of a playful way like singing numbers and we try to inculcate the concepts as per their understanding. At the later stage, we start with basic and concepts. Once they are clear with the concepts and the fundamentals