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Hi there,

 

I'm curious whether anyone here has incorporated a Soroban abacus with their child's math curriculum? If so, what was the age of your child and what curriculum did you use? How long did they use it? Do any math programs specifically suggest using the Soroban with their curriculum?

 

Thank-you,

Heather

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Hi Heather,

I will try to answer your question... We use Singapore math curriculum. We started incorporating Soroban abacus for my 7 year old son about 2 yeras ago- when he was 5 yrs old. I purchased books online, and taught my child. It is way, way...easier for a child to learn this than an adult. The abacus help whole brain development. The use of abacus helps a child visualize and conceptualize, which is the main work of the right hemisphere of the brain. Starting with the abacus as an initial tool to perform arithmetic calculation, the child gradually moves on to visualize the abacus in his/her mind and perform arithmetic calculation at stunning speed and accuracy. Thus, the right side of the brain is also equally utilized and this results in total brain development.

 

There are some places that teach the program like http://www.aloha-usa.com/

 

I do not think SM suggests using Soroban with their curriculum. We started using Soroban since, it gives the brain an entirely different kind of work out.... The methodology of doing mental operations in SM and Soroban is different. Some children may find it confusing at first. But, if a child's fundamentals are strong, it is less of an issue. My son loves his abacus mental math and what he can do with the 4 operations ( +, _, x and division) is amazing. You can look up the benefits of learning abacus at articles listed on PubMed:

 

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=Abacus%20math.

 

Time we spend on this is about one time a week - 1-1.5 hrs and 15 mins per day for working on the abacus and 5 mins / day to practic mental math. It takes anywhere from 2-3 yrs to gain absolute mastery of all 4 operations.

 

In my opinion it is a wonderful program.

 

Hope this helps.

Best regards,

Anna

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Hi Heather,

I will try to answer your question... We use Singapore math curriculum. We started incorporating Soroban abacus for my 7 year old son about 2 yeras ago- when he was 5 yrs old. I purchased books online, and taught my child. It is way, way...easier for a child to learn this than an adult. The abacus help whole brain development. The use of abacus helps a child visualize and conceptualize, which is the main work of the right hemisphere of the brain. Starting with the abacus as an initial tool to perform arithmetic calculation, the child gradually moves on to visualize the abacus in his/her mind and perform arithmetic calculation at stunning speed and accuracy. Thus, the right side of the brain is also equally utilized and this results in total brain development.

 

There are some places that teach the program like http://www.aloha-usa.com/

 

I do not think SM suggests using Soroban with their curriculum. We started using Soroban since, it gives the brain an entirely different kind of work out.... The methodology of doing mental operations in SM and Soroban is different. Some children may find it confusing at first. But, if a child's fundamentals are strong, it is less of an issue. My son loves his abacus mental math and what he can do with the 4 operations ( +, _, x and division) is amazing. You can look up the benefits of learning abacus at articles listed on PubMed:

 

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=Abacus%20math.

 

Time we spend on this is about one time a week - 1-1.5 hrs and 15 mins per day for working on the abacus and 5 mins / day to practic mental math. It takes anywhere from 2-3 yrs to gain absolute mastery of all 4 operations.

 

In my opinion it is a wonderful program.

 

Hope this helps.

Best regards,

Anna

 

Thank-you, this is great! What math did you use for pre-k or did you teach pre-k math? Did you use Essentials A/B for Kindergarten?

 

Blessings,Heather

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Hi Heather,

At 4 yrs old, we started him on Junior Kumon math where he went to a Kumon centre 2X a week. Before that I taught him numbers up to 1000. In the year he was doing Kumon, he progressed very rapidly. My concren was that he was doing the operations without the actual functional knowledge of +,_,* & Division in real life situations 'coz he did not have real life repotoire for these skills. He needed to be exposed to real life situations and, real life situations are inversely proportional to his age. So, I wanted to challenge him and at the same time help give his brain a work out in a different way.

That is when I came across Soroban Abacus and descided that this method will help him think using both hemispheres of the brain.

 

Hope this helps.

-Anna

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