Abacus trained students learn to visualize calculation in their mind as they perform mental calculations.

This trains their brain to hold, recall and manipulate a higher number of digits compared to their non-abacus peers.

Being ahead intellectually helps build your confidence and self esteem.
 

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.

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If you’ve ever come across an individual with low self-esteem, then you must know just how difficult it can be to get them out of their cocoon.

The child responds negatively and thus withdrawing from friends and family.

Children with low confidence are seen to be easily irritable, second-guessing their abilities, and more.

A lack of confidence will resonate in multiple aspects of the student's day-to-day life; including their academic progress.

With this in mind, it is self-explanatory that we need to incorporate confidence-building modules into the student’s lesson plan or curriculum.

Confidence (or the lack thereof) plays a big part when it comes to securing a comfortable, successful future for your child/student.

A child with high self-esteem grows up extra independent and resourceful - carrying an aura of self-worth that facilitates success later on in life.

Therefore the onus rests squarely on the shoulders of any mentor/tutor to create an educational experience that not only puts an emphasis on self-esteem but does so in a multi-benefit, multi-discipline approach.

Here we introduce our students to the Abacus.

 

1-1.How to Build Your Confidence and Self Esteem With the Abacus at Home

Begin training early in the Abacus and watch as it manifests a host of individual benefits down the road making life a whole lot easier.

While we encourage an early start in the abacus training program, I feel that it is necessary to state that even as an adult, the Abacus has a stimulating, beneficial effect on the brain and so it is definitely worth learning.

The million-dollar question is, “how do I learn the abacus from home?”

You’re probably asking the same thing; continue reading to learn how.

One way to learn the abacus from home is to attend live classes conducted through Zoom or Skype.

Choose a program whose pace you feel comfortable with.

Find out when the classes start, what learning resources you will need, and whether the school provides them.

Read the reviews and ratings.

Feel free to ask questions. Choose a licensed program if possible– upon completion of their curriculum, you will be awarded your own license enabling you in-turn to teach and set up your own abacus center if you want.

A popular Abacus training program is the interactive learning portal by Online Soroban.

They offer animated videos, infinite practice, and clearly explained lessons for each level.

They conduct exams at each level and it is a certified course.

What’s more, there is a free trial and even you can give it a try too!

If you don’t need a tutor to guide you through the coursework, you can opt to watch free Abacus training videos on YouTube.

The disadvantage includes a lack of a trained tutor to answer your questions or explain advanced concepts, but hey!

I guess that’s what Google is for.

The obvious advantage of using YouTube is that it’s free and you can choose your own learning speed, difficulty, time, and environment.

 

1-2.The Importance of Regular Practice to Build Your Confidence and Self Esteem

Practice makes perfect” The Abacus really is an outstanding feat of engineering and ingenuity.

One only has to look at the benefits gained by taking an abacus learning course.

1. Better memory and concentration abilities. When practiced regularly, scientists found students trained in the abacus had an increased level of concentration and memory.

2. Logical understanding capabilities enhanced.

By holding an image of an abacus in their mind’s eye, the student applies logic based on the movement of the beads.

This mental task helps in developing logic-based reasoning for use in day-to-day activities.

3. Numerical memory is boosted.

The benefits of learning the abacus are a lot more than the three examples listed above but this will do for now.

These examples illustrate a point - that learning the abacus/performing abacus related activities is a brain intensive operation.

The brain is a muscle, so the more you exercise it the stronger it becomes. How does one exercise the brain?

Simple, by practicing Abacus related math problems regularly.

Keep at it and the benefits obtained from learning the Abacus will only get more pronounced with time.

 

1-3. How the Abacus Can Help Build Your Confidence and Self Esteem

Ever noticed how good it feels to be right?

When the teacher asks a question, the whole class is silent, stumped.

You gingerly raise your hand, and swiftly give the correct answer!

A warm feeling instantly floods your body. Your brain releases dopamine, serotonin, and all those feel-good chemicals.

You got the answer right and for a few seconds, you feel high - for lack of a better word.

For those few seconds, you are untouchable.

You transcend all.

You were right.

The need to be right is one of the most prevailing destructive ideologies in our current generation.

Embedded so deeply in our collective psyche that we never even questioned it.

There is nothing wrong with wanting to be right.

The problem surfaces when you expect to be right, then you aren’t.

The weight of all that expectation falls on you like a ton of bricks.

You are crushed. It reminds me of the great Titan, Atlas, who even now, holds the earth resting on his mighty shoulders.

Our educational system is built on the construct of right and wrong.

We get points for so-called correct answers and higher grades, which generally leads to a successful life.

Being right affirms our sense of self-worth.

As students, we learn to steer well clear from the embarrassment of being wrong.

Being right becomes the primary purpose of our education.

When one learns the abacus, they are able to answer even the most complicated math questions without using a calculator.

An individual trained in mental math will solve advanced math problems in seconds, and get the answer right.

Solving multiple questions, one after the other in quick succession; getting every single one right.

The confidence boost from being right will have him giddy with joy.

Watch him strut to the front of the class and yell out the answers.

He is in total control and at that moment all his peers look up to him.

It is undeniable the benefits and lasting impact such confidence can have on an individual.

 

Overall  

Noticeable from across the room, self-doubt has a distinct smell, and it’s not a good one.

Scientists have shown a strong correlation between an individual’s academic performance and their self-esteem/confidence.

A study by Professor Lazar Stankov, Dr. Suzanne Morony, and Dr. Lee Yim Ping investigates self-beliefs and meta-cognition in mathematics students.

They found that students who think they are good in math to tend to perform well in math tests.

Children who learn the Abacus early, often grow up into adults better at articulating their ideas and setting clear goals, making them feel good and strong about their opinions.

Using an abacus will prove to be beneficial for those who are insecure or lack the confidence to submit their answers for fear of failure in this game of life.
 

 

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