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Numbers can be a very scary thing for kids if they haven’t had much contact with them before starting school.  This is why many experts advise parents to start introducing their children to numbers as early in their development as possible.  This way, they are likely to feel less anxious about the concept, which will certainly help them in high school and later in life.  And, when it comes to the task of creating familiarity around numbers, it doesn’t get much easier than soroban mathematics.

A soroban abacus is a type of abacus hailing from Japan.  Unlike the abaci we are familiar with in the west, the soroban has a divide between its beads, and the single bead on the individual rods above this divide represents five digits while the beads below represent one digit.

This may make soroban mathematics slightly more complex, but you don’t have to strictly adhere to a soroban maths curriculum right from the beginning.  You can start off with basic abacus learning for kids and then move slowly forward as your child grasps each concept.

Abacus Learning for Kids

There are many ways to familiarise your child with numbers while he or she is a toddler.  You can create games that apply to everyday life, such as having your child count the amount of apples you buy whilst grocery shopping or doing scavenger hunts in which your child has to find three crayons, for example.  However, you’ll find that, once your child has a basic understanding of numbers, a soroban maths curriculum is truly beneficial.

The reason why abaci are so useful for teaching numbers is that, similarly to apples or crayons, the beads are tangible representatives of numbers.  Unlike showing a child the number four written on a page and trying to explain that it represents four units, you are able to show your child that four beads on an abacus make up the number four.

While this might be the limit on a western abacus, depending on how you approach it, a soroban is able to take the learning further.  With the top row of the abacus representing the number five, a soroban can calculate high numbers, as well as be used to teach division and multiplication and even decimals.

So, if you see the value of abacus maths South Africa, be sure to get hold of a high quality soroban abacus and start teaching your child numbers as soon as possible.  This is the best way to ensure that numbers aren’t at all scary when your kids grow up.

Image credit: http://www.goodsfromjapan.com/japanese-abacus-p-1445.html