How do you use an abacus?

[mommy5]

I bought an abacus to use with my Kindergartener and then I realized ... I don't know how to use it. I never used one in school and I'm not quite sure what to do with it. :confused::tongue_smilie:

 

Anyone have any suggestions???

[EMS83]

I can't help you, but I think that's awesome. I want an abacus. And DH was trying to convince my SIL to get an abacus app on her iphone. :lol:

[freeindeed]

:lurk5:

My youngest child is visually impaired, so we may be purchasing an abacus in the near future.

[forty-two]

I use our RS one to illustrate concepts, so my technique is more the long way around than the official, most efficient way - figure we'll do those when they are old enough to get the how and how behind it.

 

So I add by putting the first number on, and then putting the second number on a different row. Then we regroup. Say it's 9+6. Put 9 on one row, 6 on another row, then take one away from the 6 to put with the 9 - now we have one ten and 5 units, and that's our answer.

 

Same thing with multiplication - I put on 4 rows of 6 (or what have you), and then regroup, regroup, regroup until we have the answer.

 

But I've read about "official" techniques, and they have faster techniques. Google "how to use a soroban" - that's a Japanese abacus - and you should find something. That's how I learned.

 

ETA: The abacus is great for doing "harder" numbers with a little one - with it we can do just about any problem she comes up with, in a way that illustrates clearly the underlying concepts :thumbup:.

Edited March 1, 2012 by forty-two

[stm4him]

Right Start sells a $20 book called Activities for the ALAbacus and it is basically a tutoring manual for those who use other programs but want to pull in the abacus to teach arithmetic. You can buy a $20 workbook to go with it if you want. The concepts cover K (or preK) to 4th grade. If you don't have a blue and yellow one like Right Start sells I HIGHLY recommend that you switch to that kind. It is amazing how clearly it helps you see things b/c of how they are grouped in fives (which is what our brain can automatically process without counting). I've used the book successfully in the summer to give us another perspective on the concepts. It is an awesome supplement and in the younger years could probably be used just fine as a full program if you added in some extra fact drill. I gave up Right Start b/c it was too teacher intensive and I couldn't do it and Saxon but I just couldn't give up the abacus. It's amazing!

[forty-two]

Here's the link I learned from: http://webhome.idirect.com/~totton/abacus/pages.htm

 

With beginners I've been doing the RS beginner way, of not using place value, but letting each bead be one. Limits you to answers of 100 (on an RS abacus, anyway), but hasn't been an issue yet.

[threedogfarm]

Thanks for mentioning the Activities for the Al Abacus. I didn't know such a resource existed.

 

My daughter uses an abacus for her math and she finds it very helpful. We have an old one that my uncle used when he was young (funny--it has yellow and blue beads too).

 

She uses it in a very basic way--for addition and subtracting. I will order that book as a supplement to our math program. I wanted her to stop counting on her fingers. . .and flash cards were not helping her memorize her facts. Using the abacus has been so helpful to her learning her math facts.

[swiegers]

We also RightStart math with the abacus. The back of the abacus can be used to do numbers into the thousands and that side works really well to explain place value and to do regrouping when adding or subtracting. So, you have a couple of rows where the value for each bead is 1, then a couple of rows where the value of each bead is 10, then 100, then 1000. The abacus is marked on the side.

[SweetMissMagnolia]

I want to get the activities for the abacus too--it's on my wish list......:D

[Tawlas]

It's on mine now too!

[mommy5]

Where is the best place to buy that book?