Mar 2021 New: 3 Tips to Concentrate on Studying for Children's Academic Excellence

The ability to concentrate on studying is a skill that needs to be honed and trained over a period of time.

This article teaches you how to master this underrated skill to be the best student in class.
 

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

Concentration is the key functionality needed for effective study at any level - be it at higher levels of academia or the young, budding stages of the children.

It is one of the most sought-after qualities among self-discipline seekers because the skill of voluntary concentration not only helps in studies but in leading an overall successful life.
 

1-1.Help Children Concentrate on Studying for Confused Parents

In many cases, it is seen that the parents of the child are even more confused than the children themselves.

Many parents tend to over-worry and have a scattered approach.

In such a scenario, the child doesn’t get the directed guidance he/she should be getting from the adults.

The result - a misguided child who often has a negative image of academics, which is an even bigger problem in itself.

The parents need to therefore develop concentration along with their child.

They need to focus exactly where the child needs work, which sections of lessons need extra repetitions and focus, and which subjects require extra care.

Having a concentrated approach guarantees that the study sessions are actually useful for the kid and not just “long hours” that the child just goes through.

This also means that the parents have to actively be involved in their child’s workflow.

As new assignments are given, proper care needs to be taken to make sure that the child understands the core ideas to be learned from the assignments, each assignment is designed with a particular value in mind, and if the student doesn’t get that, then the purpose of the entire activity is defeated.

1-2.How to Help Your Child Concentrate on Studying

The abacus is a counting device that's been used since ancient times.

The abacus can be used to quickly perform the basic operations of mathematics on a limited range of numbers - add, subtract, multiply, and divide.

It was often used by accountants, shopkeepers, and people who directly dealt with numbers in the olden days when electronic calculators weren’t existent.

The basic method employed by the abacus is visualization.

The operations require a good amount of in-mind picturing and visualizing, this means the children show an increased use of their visualization cortex.

Tests organized in abacus classes are aural in nature.

This means the children don’t get a printed sheet to work with.

They instead have to actively listen - for the numbers being spoken by the teacher.

This increases their listening abilities.

More importantly, using the abacus removes the fear of numbers in your child as they start associating numbers not just with core maths, but also with activities outside of the subject.
 

1-3. Concentrate on Studying With Parent's Help

Here are some key points to keep in mind:

- There are a variety of abacus courses around.

Make use of a level-based abacus program so that you can have enough practice of the basics.

Push through advanced topics will prove to be counter-effective as basics are important to be equipped with the knowledge to solve harder problems.

The use of classes based on pre-defined levels generally provide good practice of the fundamentals before moving to the difficult stuff.

- Time the assignments: Along with the abacus program, home assignments can be given and most importantly, timed.

Using a stopwatch keeps the child competitive as they always have the challenge to overcome.

This also helps them perform better under pressure.

- Allow them to take an abacus everywhere: Maths is everywhere, and so is the use of numbers.

Buy the child a separate, compact abacus which they can carry almost everywhere with them(distinct from the one they use for their classes).

This will encourage them to freely use the devices and will increase their reliance on the techniques taught in abacus classes.

- Use the abacus yourself: Children copy what they see the adults do.

If you start using the abacus, it would be much easier to make the child use their abacus too.

This has been observed under multiple scenarios. - Revision, revision, revision!:

As with most things humans learn, revision is the key.

Not revising means the older concepts are realized as often and eventually, it starts creating bottlenecks as the concept grows old and new information gets written into the mind.

It is therefore recommended to have an active revision plan as well.

Soroban, the Japanese word for abacus is widely used as a synonym particularly because of how integrated the abacus is in the Japanese school curriculum.

This soroban website has free as well as paid courses and even mobile applications for thorough practice.

Students can enjoy fully interactive and self-learning focussed courses to help teach your child the best abacus.

This interactive medium assures that the children are actively participating instead of just passively listening and doing nothing.

With a student-centric approach, they can learn at their own pace as the video lessons are available 24/7.

There is also a platform that conducts tests and for unlimited practice.

They have advanced abacus courses available for students who wish to be soroban educators.

Be geared towards learning skills that will allow you to calculate without a physical abacus available.

Overall  
Concentration and focus are the keys to academic success.

Visualization and familiarity with numbers increase both of these functions.

Abacus is helpful in increasing both visualizations of numbers and familiarity with them.

The abacus is therefore a great choice for parents who want their child to succeed and stay ahead in their classes.