All About Abacus Training

[jedamum]

googaga:

Hi jedamum.. agree with u. But may i know y u decide to stop ur ds' abacus training? i'm in two minds whether to continue or not.. reason being the hmwk is tremendous and it's always a struggle getting him to do his practice.

just to qualify first, my boy was under a regular abacus training programme, not 2 hands type.
we stopped after his first abacus test cos
1. difficulty in getting him to do the homework based on abacus method (he was doing number bonds method in his mind instead of using the abacus formula)
2. he has problem applying formulas that he does not understand; ie why must -1 then +something when there is nothing to minus from in the first place? will +something first then minus affect the way the teacher is going to continue teaching cos teacher's formula is minus first?
3. even for his first abacus test, can already see that he is using mental number bond methods instead of the abacus method; it may work for small numbers, but as his foundation for abacus formula is weak, he will suffer when they proceed to more advance level.

[Agilemaths]

Hi Mums,

3G aka 3rd Generation. It has same benefits as traditional abacus but uses only 2 sets of formula. I have a blog : http://agilemaths.blogspot.com/ . You are welcome to post enquiry to me.

[skkhor]

//Moderator's note: Topics merged.


Who's know which centre is good for abacus in west area? How's you guy think CC is good? Please advice. Thanks a lot

[schellen]

Try this other thread: http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/forum/viewtopic.php?t=42


Mods, pls merge. Thx.

[adafew]

My DS1 has been very coorporative when asked to do piles of Abacus homework and he seems to be getting into the ‘interest’ as there are ‘reward’ chops. So he is keen to know if he gets more rewards on his lesson days. He is also starting to use what he learned in Abacus (mental calculation) for his maths assessment.


Personally I think Abacus do helps.

[vannessa]

Hi

Since abacus might confuse the kids with number bonds taught in school, would learning finger maths be good enough? I am still hesitating between CMA and finger maths organised by cc. Anybody care to share your experience on finger maths classes?

[snggy]

My son has been taking lessons from CMA since 5yo. He is in P1 now. They are trained to \"see\" the abacus in the brain and training the brain to concentrate and compute as needed. It is certainly a good course to train the brain. But please do not expect it to be the alternative for learning maths.


In Primary school, english is important for them to do their maths well. Questions are tricky and they need to think. It has nothing to do with abacus or mental abacus. They are of course a tool where the kids can add faster and accurate. But purely to add, minus, multiply and division.

My younger son is also enrolled into the class as well. It is good to learn when younger. You will have to know the objective of what you want to acheive out of it.

[twinnies mummy]

Hi, does anyone know of a good abacus class/school near Sengkang or Hougang. I'm intending to enrol my 5 year old girl in.


Thanks.

[Cinta]

hi, i hv intended to sent my son to abacus class. He will be in P1 next yr. I hope it is not too late for him to get started. Anyone noe of any gd abacus class in Tampines? Txs.:idea:

[pokemon]

hi twinnies mummy and cinta,


Try CMA abacus sch. im not sure if they hv branches in your neighbrhd, but u can chk them out from the web. My ds hs bn there since 4yo, now he is 6, finishing the mental arithmetic. They really count fast, im amazed, cant compete with him bt prepare for home work to do.