As you can imagine, the Mental Calculation World Cup is no walk in the park.  Contestants can’t use their fingers and toes to calculate answers – not because the event looks down on barefooted contestants, but because the problems requiring calculation are so advanced.  Contestants may be asked to multiply 8-figure numbers by other 8-figure numbers, or find the square roots of 10 6-figure numbers in the quickest time possible.  Remarkably, the record for the latter task stands at 6 minutes, 51 seconds.  Even more remarkably, the record was set in 2010 by a 12-year-old.  This is the power of soroban mathematics.

How a Soroban Maths Curriculum Can Lead to Record Breaking Speed

You might be confused as to how soroban maths relates to mental calculation.  After all, you don’t need a soroban tutorial to know that this abacus is a piece of physical equipment, and thus not allowed in the Mental Calculation World Cup.

That may be true, but although the 2010 mental calculation champion didn’t use a physical soroban, she certainly benefitted from soroban mathematics.  This is because the 12-year-old, Priyanshi Somani, used the structure of each soroban tutorial she learned from her soroban education centre in order to calculate terrifyingly complex problems in her head.

The method is referred to as ‘Mental Abacus’, and uses a soroban maths curriculum to take the linguistic representation out of numbers.  The portrayal of numbers via language is then replaced by a mental picture of beads on a soroban abacus.  Having been significantly successful for Priyanshi Somani, it is now not uncommon to see contestants in the Mental Calculation World Cup flicking imaginary beads up and down with their fingers.

This style of mental calculation is exceedingly popular in India – the birthplace of Somani.  In fact, in Gujarat province, mental abacus maths is taught in an after-school program that lasts three years.  As a result, the children exposed to this style of calculation have impressive mental calculation skills.

Soroban Maths South Africa

The increasing dependency on calculators and mobile apps today means that children are at risk of having under-developed mental calculation abilities.  This could severely affect their understanding of maths in general.  However, a local soroban education centre can change all of this.

The idea of calculating large numbers mentally may seem daunting to many, but it is completely possible through a well-planned soroban maths curriculum.  So, to give your children a good start at mental calculation, or to brush up on your own skills, be sure to visit A+ Students today!

Image credit: http://alchetron.com/Priyanshi-Somani-431815-W