Will Abacus use create a dependency...like adding on fingers??

[diaperjoys]

My 6yo wants to use the Abacus for his CLE Math lessons (currently working through lightunit 106). He can answer the facts without the abacus, but it takes him a looooooong time, and he is strongly tempted to do it via making dashes in the margins & counting them up to check his answers.

 

Is abacus use a crutch? Or an important phase in mathematical development? Should he use the abacus for routine lessons?

[laughing lioness]

Not in our experience. Quite the opposite. It gives the kids a picture in their mind that they can take with them beyond the point where they use the abacus. We have LOVED it. It's been a great tool.

[Susie in CA]

No. Both my kids stopped using the Abacus on their own.

 

Susie

[Cynful]

No, its a wonderful way to visualize it.

[Crimson Wife]

You can have your child start by physically manipulating the abacus beads and then transition to visualizing them in his mind.

[Strawberry Queen]

Using any type of manipulative is recommended at this age. Children are not developmentally ready to do math in their heads. With experience they are able to picture objects in their head, but it takes time. I have found that my children will transition out of using manipulatives once they understand the concept. Doing mental math is simpler and less time consuming, so they will transition naturally when they are older as they want to save time. ;)

 

HTH

[PeterPan]

Well for one thing, there's no reason why he can't use tally marks. RS teaches them as a step from fingers to abacus. Two, the RS abacus is a terrific visualization tool for the patterns in math. I wouldn't get one with a ton of colors, or he's just counting. But if it has two colors (5 of each per row), then he's seeing the patterns and using the math, a great thing. I also like their place value cards and base 10 picture cards, both of which are quite inexpensive ($4 and $2.50?) and pair nicely with the abacus. You form the quantities on each, then add or subtract the quantities. You can do this with 4 plus digits straight away, and it helps them see the correlation between physical and numerical representation, learning the algorithm for themselves.

[FO4UR]

:iagree:The child "outgrows" the manipulatives when s/he can visualize it in his/her head. Something concrete like the abacus or C rods, provides a consistent visual which speeds along the process. ime

[diaperjoys]

Sounds like we can plan to keep the abacus in daily use for the time being! He'll be delighted. I just wanted to be sure I wasn't setting him up for problems later.

 

And, while I didn't purchase the RS abacus, this one is very, very similar. 100 beads, 10 rows, two colors (five of each on each row), and on the back are the columns for ones, tens, hundreds place.

 

Thanks for all the help!

 

C