Jun 2021 New:3 Tings About Learning Abacus at the Right Age

Learning how to use the abacus at the right age can bring a lot of added benefits such as an improvement in maths, high IQ, and even good mental math skills.

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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One of the most important things to consider when beginning to learn a new skill is the appropriate time to begin learning.

Sort of how a marathon runner would not want to practice before his marathon, learning the skills at the wrong time can actually lead to a complete disaster.

The same goes for learning an incredible skill like the soroban.

Is there an appropriate time to begin learning the soroban?

The answer depends on the context.

For most children, the best time to begin learning the soroban is the present.

They should not waste any time and start immediately.

Let us discuss this further.

1-1.Learning Abacus at the Right Age

Neuroplasticity Neuroplasticity is basically our brain’s ability to change and adapt based on our experience.

We can connect our neuroplasticity directly to our learning.

The more elastic or neuroplastic our brain is, the easier it is for the brain to adapt to change and learn from experience.

This includes learning from textbooks and lectures in school and college.

People with better neuroplasticity tend to learn not only faster but also better overall.

They are able to connect their newly learned experiences with everything else that they already know and thus create an internal framework of the mind which to rely on.

This ensures they are able to successfully apply what they have learned.

The young mind For humans, our neuroplasticity decreases as we grow older.

This is extremely evident in younger children learning new languages.

An adult, even though more intelligent and having more knowledge than a child, will take longer and generally have a harder time learning a new language.

The same concept can be extrapolated to all the other learning experiences too.

Be it learning maths, learning to play basketball, or learning the soroban.

Being a mental process, learning the soroban benefits greatly from higher neuroplasticity found in children.

This is why we say that the young mind is the learning mind.

Therefore learning soroban when your kids are young is a great choice for most children.

By learning the skill earlier than others, they stand to gain more experience than others, which is only going to help them down the road.

1-2.Starting Abacus at the Right Age to Prepare for Adulthood

Because the soroban is such a varied activity, we find people wanting to learn it.

Many people are interested in the psychological benefits that we can gain from the soroban, and not the mathematical benefits.

Abacus can be used to reduce stress, anxiety and can also help build discipline in adults.

So how easy is it to learn soroban during adulthood?

The answer to that question lies in what learning approach one takes in this regard.

Everyone learns differently, and thus, if the appropriate approach is taken, learning the soroban is not hard at all.

At its most basic level, the abacus is just a simple calculating device that can help us through hairy mathematical calculations.

Unlike modern calculators, it does not have advanced functions but it can very well beat the modern calculators in terms of pure speed and precision.

So then what are some ways in which adults can start to learn the soroban?

Well, the good news is there are quite a few options out there.

One can of course grab the latest copy of a good soroban book from the bookstores and follow along.

An actual soroban is highly recommended in such a case.

Most books will have tons of practice problems, make sure to solve them on your own and look for help when needed.

The choice of the author will depend on the personal preferences of the individual, but there are many good ones available online.

Another approach can be to learn the abacus online.

There are multiple websites that offer paid courses that can be easily availed from the comfort of your home.

Should one want to try abacus out before investing in a paid course, YouTube offers tons of free materials which are only a click away.

1-3. Abacus the Right Age: Prerequisites and Benefits to the Abacus

Prerequisites As a tool designed for the layman, the abacus does not entail having a lot of knowledge before beginning to learn it.

Of course, there are different types of abacus and unless you are younger you will be advised to learn from a standard soroban rather than the baby soroban that are used to teach younger kids.

In such a scenario, it will be expected that you are at least aware of the basics of the decimal number system.

The decimal number system which includes the place value system is the basis of the standard soroban, this knowledge is necessary to have the best abacus learning experience.

Benefits of learning abacus Being an ancient tool but still popular in modern times, the soroban brings with itself the goodness of ancient times with the sharpness of modern times.

Let us look at some benefits of learning the soroban: -Increased calculation speeds are the number one benefit of using the soroban.

With the soroban, people have beaten actual calculators in both - speed and precision.

The power of the abacus lies in its simplicity and the weakness of the calculator lies in its complicated structure.

-Improves visualization is also a major advantage of the soroban.

People who use the abacus regularly will be able to imagine various shapes and deformities very easily in their heads.

They don’t sweat in physics classes because they can imagine and understand it all.

And geometry becomes super easy to get a hang of.

-Another great benefit of the abacus that we’d like to mention is the heightened sense of numbers.

Numbers as abstract concepts can be hard to have a good grasp of.

But in the end, the abacus can help us master this too.

Overall  
The best age for learning soroban is during the younger years.

As we explained, the brain’s ability to learn from experience is the best at a younger age.

For adults, they can start whenever, but basic mathematical knowledge will be required to have the best learning experience.