How can you help your school's students perform better in math?

Learn how you improve your school's math assessment scores using a remarkable educational tool - the abacus. The abacus is an ancient Asian calculating tool that helps modern-day students as young as age 4 or 5 master essential mathematical skills they will retain and use all their lives.

Math proficiency gives students a competitive edge and prepares them for tomorrow's highly selective job marketplace. Most new jobs require good math and science skills, and the Learning Mathematics with the Abacus instructional program is an excellent way to prepare your students for future career success.

As you know, good math skills are also vital to helping your school’s students pass critical assessment tests in today’s challenging education environment. Abacus training is a way to develop children’s innate abilities.

Many schools in Asia, where abacus instruction is widely popular for teaching mental math/arithmetic, introduce the abacus between kindergarten and 4th grade. Children who begin learning the abacus before being taught traditional arithmetic experience minimal conflict between the two systems. If a child starts the program later, having already received traditional foundations, there may be a slightly extended learning period for the child to accept and integrate the abacus method.

Educators in Asia say abacus skills are a key reason children in these countries consistently win top rankings in international math comparisons.

In 2003, U.S. performance in mathematics literacy and problem solving was lower than the average performance for most OECD (Organization for Education and Cooperative Development) countries. Korea and Japan ranked at or near the top in problem solving and combined math literacy.

In Japan, educators maintain that the abacus helps children develop powers of mental calculation. It enables children to:

• understand the base-ten number system and place values,
• understand concepts of carrying and borrowing in arithmetic, and
• visualize close relations between numbers and numerals.

The abacus is an excellent substitute for rote memorization of multiplication tables. Abacus calculation relies on the manipulation of beads rather than use of traditional arithmetic.

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