Feb 2021 New: 2 Ways to Improve Our Concentration and Attention Span

The ability to concentrate is extremely critical in for growing and developing children.

Learn how we can grow and improve our attention span with just the abacus.

For students who may not have access to the abacus tool, this article will be helpful for new students too!
 

I'm the author of this article and I'm a qualified abacus teacher, answering questions from around the world online abacus and various questions from online-soroban.com students.

Table of contents

In our everyday lives, our brains remain functioning, never turned off.

When walking or traveling in silence, usually thinking of the tasks taking place for the day, we are constantly thinking.

In most cases, we are thinking of a memory.

The question is; why do we think of these memories instead of paying attention to what is around us?

or what thoughts are we having that have nothing to do with this very moment?

Some people refer to these daydream moments as “cat naps” but nonetheless they capture our attention at different times of the day, have it be when driving, when in class, or when at work.
 

1-1.Exercises for the Brain to Concentrate and Improve Our Attention Using the Abacus

The abacus as a whole instrument used in any way is a workout for the brain on its own.

Stimulating the different cortex parts of the brain, a multitude of equations and sums being done on the abacus as warm-ups allow for the brain to be intrigued and further stimulated by the basic exercises.

A simple exercise for the brain is one of counting the beads.

Either in ones or in multiples of different numbers not exceeding the number of beads on one rack.

The counting can be a mixture of addition, subtraction, or multiplication, the choices are endless as they are also yours.

1-2.The Importance of Improving Our Concentration and Our Attention

In the functioning of our day to day lives, a level of 100 percent focus and concentration is needed in order to go through our days.

Concentration comes into focus when our studies and day-to-day tasks are concerned such as driving, reading, and getting tasks done.

The thoughts you have in your mind, you take control over them by rejecting others that are of no importance to you.

It is just like meeting someone and forgetting their name almost instantly, or being asked to remind someone of something but can't seem to do that moment later, some may look at this as a sign of memory fading, but you could have easily not concentrated well enough to have stored the memory away.

Concentration, in line with attention, is an essential need to have a good memory.

Now, on the basis of having a good memory, concentration needs to improve for the following reasons: - Having the ability to make complete memories - Easily be able to recall information - Improvements in memory - Improving studying abilities

1-3. Finding Abacus and Tools to Concentrate and Focus Our Attention

Depending on the type of abacus you are interested in learning as well as the type of abacus you feel comfortable with and prefer learning, finding an abacus online to work from is simple.

The procedure is mainly searching for the abacus by its specific name and choosing which link captures your attention the most.

As simple as it sounds, there is nothing really drastic about the whole process of finding an abacus as it is pretty straightforward.

If one simply can not find the abacus, you could make one!

Children have found joy and fun in working with their hands, and building your very own abacus can excite and draw interest to the working instrument that you created with your very own hands.

In order to create your own homemade abacus, you will need 6-7 wooden popsicle sticks, 2-3 bamboo skewers that have been cut in half to create 6 long pieces altogether.

Next, you will need 30 plastic beads that will go through the bamboo skewers and be able to slide smoothly over them.

Lastly, a hot glue gun is needed. In the formation of putting the abacus together, you will need to align 3 popsicle sticks one on top of the other with 3 fingers of space between each.

Apply the hot glue to the first popsicle stick and gently press down the six bamboo skewers on to the glue.

Take another popsicle stick, apply the hot glue, and press in it together with the other previously glued popsicle stick.

When this is done, take the beads and put four beads on each of the six skewers.

Glue another two popsicle sticks and sandwich them together as you did previously right above the four beads.

Gently pressing down the newly glued popsicle sticks, take the beads, and put one single bead on each of the six bamboo sticks.

Follow this up by taking two more popsicle sticks, hot gluing them, and sandwiching them together between the bamboo sticks for the final time.

When dealing with the abacus, no other tools are really needed, minus the traditional pencil and paper, but in order to have fun, one can simply pick an online game from the internet based around the abacus and learn the instrument that stimulates your interest as well as your imagination and creativity alike.

Once this is done, the only thing that can hold you back from enjoyment is a lack of concentration.

Overall  
No matter the situation at hand, as human beings, keeping direct concentration on any and every task in our day to day lives helps better our character and helps to make a better functioning individual.

The abacus has been known to intrigue the brain but not only is that the case, but it too stimulates one's focus by the rappelling of the beads as well as their shape and the concept of the abacus as a whole including its design.

In not just mathematics and basic literacy, the abacus has restored and assisted in the concentration, focus, and memory of the brain's development.

This shows to tell how extensive and meaningful the abacus has been to many of us, how it continues to break down walls in what it is capable of.