All About Abacus Training

[I3-mum]

Hi Bliss,

Which CC is your girl in and how big is the class?
I’m keen to enrol him in the CC too as it has chinese mental arithmetic. Like you, I want to expose him to chinese.
However the class in CC can be quite big (up to 25 students). Wonder whether the teacher can pay attention to all students.

[girlmum]

bliss:

Hi,

I think the way of teaching is still the same and it boils down to your preference. I enrolled my girl in Chinese abacus class even though English class is available at the CC. The reason being, I want her to get in touch with Chinese more, as we speak more English at home. I do not want her to get too used to English and develop adverse liking for Chinese
by the time she gets into Pri 1.

This is exactly why I enrolled my dd in a Chinese abacus class, kill 2 birds with 1 stone. (more exposure in Mandarin while learning abacus--save $$) :lol: My dd started learning abacus in K2 (now P3), currently mental Grade 1 & abacus Grade 5. I always remind her to do her workings during exams and use her abacus skills to check. So far so good,

[bliss]

I3-mum:

Hi Bliss,

Which CC is your girl in and how big is the class?
I'm keen to enrol him in the CC too as it has chinese mental arithmetic. Like you, I want to expose him to chinese.
However the class in CC can be quite big (up to 25 students). Wonder whether the teacher can pay attention to all students.

Hi,

It is Anchorvale CC. Initially her class was very big too, but I noticed quite a number of them dropped out as the class progressed. Think some of them couldn't cope.. that's why.

I think the teacher has her way of monitoring the students' progresses despite the class size. Whenever I ask the teacher about my child's progress, she is able to pinpoint her weaknesses. She would also guide parents on what has been taught at end of each lesson. With these info, I am able to guide her more effectively in her homework.

Ultimately I think it is practice and parents' support that matter most.

[bliss]

girlmum:

This is exactly why I enrolled my dd in a Chinese abacus class, kill 2 birds with 1 stone. (more exposure in Mandarin while learning abacus--save $$) :lol: My dd started learning abacus in K2 (now P3), currently mental Grade 1 & abacus Grade 5. I always remind her to do her workings during exams and use her abacus skills to check. So far so good,

Thanks for the tip. I must bear that in mind when my girl goes to pri sch!

[cool_hi]

I am considering between CMA or CC…

My hubby feels that CMA is much more ex, but he feels that we are paying for quality, & he is worried that CC may have very big class(no attention from teachers) & also may have high turnover rate, & it’s not very good for my girl if keep on changing teachers…

But I have a friend whose daughter is attending abacus class in a cc for past 1 year.SHe enjoys the lessons & is progressing well under the same teacher…so I am very tempted to send my girl to the same cc, under same teacher…

Any comments on abacus course by cc & CMA? ANyone tried both before? Any differece in the course content & how the class is conducted?(My girl need the class to be conducted/presented in an interesting way, to catche her attention+interest…)
SHould I let her try CC 1st, if she doesn’t like, then go CMA? WIll she be confused? as CC use 1 hand, but CMA uses 2-hand…
what about the formulas they use?any difference in CC & CMA?

Thanks in advance!!

[Agilemaths]

I do not have experience from both CC and CMA. But if you are trying out CC then CMA, what I know is CMA requires student to start from their beginner level, regardless of whether the child has or no experience in abacus/mental arithmetric. If you try CMA then CC, you probably able to discuss with the CC’s instructor to place your girl into level that she is comfortable with. Hope the information helps.

[adafew]

My son is currently with CMA.


Course fee is reasonable in my opinion,
S$250-280/10 lesson - 90mins/lesson - 1x per wk or
S$200-220/10 lesson - 90mins/lesson - 2xper wk

I think the different between CMA and CC is CMA uses 2 hands method while CC is typically 1 hand method. Personally I preference 2 hands as I thought coordination and mind thinking will be more ‘balanced’.

Also, CMA is very structured and they will evaluate each individual kids and promote them to their grade appropriate depending on their learning speed. So it is not regime to time factor for each child, ie. a child who learns faster will go to another grade quicker than his/her peers.

Hope this helps.

[tree nymph]

Hi!


Is there any Adult Abacus Class?

[Pen88n]

tree nymph:

Hi!


Is there any Adult Abacus Class?

What is your reason for attending abacus class - to teach your kid or you really want to be able to do abacus well yourself? If it is to teach your kid, you can learn the basics from the internet. If you want to be able to do abacus well yourself, other than knowing the basics and methods, you need to practise and progress yourself.

I know the basics on how to compute, can guide my kids at the early stage and ensure they are doing the right method. However, I do not practise and so cannot keep up with my kid's progress over some time. They all bypass me. Now they use abacus / mental and I use calculator :lol:

[sunny]

hi

after reading that kids would forget the abacus skills if they don’t practise after a while, i I am thinking whether I should switch my gal from her abacus class to montessori maths to build her maths foundation.

anyone can share your view, please?