Wouldn't it be nice to just be able to solve any math problem in your head?

You’d probably feel really smart being able to do math just like that.

Keep on reading to learn the basics of mental math that will help you build your confidence in social situations and mathematical abilities in general.

There are plenty of ways you can approach learning mental calculations, but the most beneficial route is through learning the abacus.

Read on to learn how to do mental math -division.
 

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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Mental math, or rather, the ability that allows people to do math “in their head” without using a calculator or writing it down is one of those life skills up there with learning how to start a fire without matches.

You may not need it at the moment – you have phones and calculators - one day knowing a little mental math may get you out of a pinch and save you a load of embarrassment while at it.

Oh, you do know those mobile phones run out of battery at some point, right?

Solving math problems in real-time helps us in everyday situations.

How many times have you asked yourself: What is the price for this item?

Do I have enough cash to buy everything on this list?

Did this cashier just overcharge me? When should I leave to get to class on time?

 

1-1.How to Mental Math, Including the Division

Basically, we use an abacus to do calculations and then slowly learn to visualize the abacus in our heads.

So how do you learn to visualize an abacus in your head?

Easy, attend a class!

A few minutes of Google-Fu should show you any available classes near you.

Go through them and choose the ones that suit your time, price, and location. Some of you may ask what if I can’t afford to pay?

I know things are a tad topsy-turvy at the moment with the Covid-19 pandemic, but I have just the thing for you: YouTube Videos.

They are free, they are fast, and there are a ton of them!

Find one that moves at a pace you’re comfortable with, press play, sit tight, and learn.

You may even come across videos with downloadable worksheets.

How awesome is that?!

If you want something a touch more interactive, you can look into Learning Apps.

Available for both Android and iPads, these are great, especially for children or beginners.

Disguising the learning process as a game, they can be quite addictive too – just one more try.

You can also use the learning apps to complement other teaching methods; such as going to class and playing the games on your phone at home for practice. Whatever suits you.

Online Soroban created a platform where students are able to use the computer to learn and a mobile app for learning on the go!

Your child will be able to gain access to a variety of fun educational content while curbing boredom.

Finally, you can get some interesting reading material from your neighborhood bookshop or even at the library.

We came across some Workbooks that would make a great foundation, to begin with, a Homeschooling approach.

Instruction books separate everything lesson by lesson, all laid out for you in an easy to understand format.

It’s great, it really is, and the exercises at the end of each chapter serve to really drive the point home.

Visit Online Soroban’s learning methods and flash anzan page for more details.

 

1-2.How to Learn and Master Mental Math Division Using the Abacus

The beginning of a new chapter is always exciting. While multiplication includes a lot of memorization, division involves quick thinking, a good understanding of numbers, and even spatial skills.

The abacus can even be used to solve a whole range of mathematical problems, division being but one of them.

Similar to multiplication, abacus division is close to how you would solve it on paper.

However, the same way doing paper division is trickier than paper multiplication, abacus division is also trickier than abacus multiplication.

Note that the technique used to perform abacus division is an important fundamental one as it's what makes it possible to use the abacus for more advanced operations, like roots.

First of all, leave space for your answer to the right of the divisor and the dividend.

When dividing on an abacus, you will put the divisor in the left-most column(s).

Leave a couple of blank columns to the right, then put the dividend in the columns next to those.

The remaining columns to the right will be used to do the work leading to the answer.

Leave those blank for now.

Record the quotient.

Divide the first number in the dividend by the divisor, and put it in the first blank column in the answer section.

(If you like, you can skip a column (leave it blank) between the dividend and the columns you want to use for the answer section.

This can help you distinguish between the dividend and the work you do as you calculate.) Determine the remainder.

Next, you need to multiply the quotient in the first answer section column by the dividend in column one to determine the remainder.

This product needs to be subtracted from the first column of the dividend.

Repeat the process.

Record the next digit of the quotient in the next blank column of the answer section, subtracting the product from the dividend (here, eliminating it).

 

1-3. How to Use Mental Math and Abacus for Maximum Division Speed and Other Benefits

The most commonly used abacus today was made in China around the 2nd century B.C.

However, there is evidence of abacus-like devices from ancient Mesopotamia dating back to 2700B.C.

That is a very long time ago! It may amaze you then to learn the abacus is still used in this day and age by shopkeepers in Asia and ""Chinatowns"" in America.

This “wonder-board” is still taught in Asian schools and select schools in the West.

Children hard of sight are taught to use the abacus instead of paper and pencil to perform calculations.

Given the huge leaps man has made in technology, engineering, and general know-how, one may wonder why we bother with the abacus anymore.

To answer this we need to understand the unique benefits the abacus grants the user.

By enhancing the complete brain development, doing calculations on the abacus prepares one to do calculations mentally using a “mental abacus”.

This improves the user’s mental arithmetic abilities.

 

Overall  
Able to survive since ancient times; passing through wars, fires, floods, tornadoes, and God knows what other disasters.

If it still has significant relevance 2000+ years later, then we must assume this device made of beads, wire and a wooden frame, must not be taken lightly.

A contraption of obvious necessity and benefit, the abacus is here to stay and it would do us well to incorporate it into our day to day lives for our own sake and for the generations to come as well, this knowledge should be passed on as our forefathers did and their forefathers before them.

 

 

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