A brief discussion on abacus mental arithmetic

Abacus mental arithmetic is an activity in which the results are obtained through the calculation of numbers through thinking. It uses the representation of abacus beads as a carrier in the brain and performs calculations using abacus arithmetic principles. Mental arithmetic has been around since humans began to have the concept of numbers and digits, and were able to perform the simplest numerical calculations. In order to assist in mental arithmetic, there are calculation tools that "take objects from near and objects from far away". Stones, branches, etc. are also the most primitive calculation tools for distance.

Is abacus mental arithmetic powerful? It must be awesome. Being able to use a virtual abacus in my mind through imagination to perform rapid and large-scale calculations, as a highly educated person, I also find it very amazing. Does that mean that every student should learn it? Will it be helpful for learning? The answer is no.

First, abacus mental arithmetic requires students to have strong imagination and be able to abstract an abacus in their heads, which is difficult for young children to achieve. If there are any, they are rare. Because before the age of 11, human intellectual development has not yet reached the stage of formal operations. Before that, students pay more attention to the appearance of objects, and it is difficult to understand the logic and abstract concepts behind things. Therefore, sending young children to learn abacus mental arithmetic will either mean that the children are really talented or they will pay an IQ tax.

Secondly, the process and time of learning abacus mental arithmetic is long. If it is not a professional specialty, is it worthwhile to spend such time and energy? Will it have a greater impact on academic studies? These are issues that we as parents should take seriously and verify. The computing skills required in current mathematics are still mainly written calculations, requiring results as well as processes. At the same time, the accuracy and proficiency requirements for written calculations will also increase as the grade increases. The process of abacus and mental arithmetic is difficult to describe, and getting used to abacus and mental arithmetic will definitely affect your proficiency in written arithmetic.

Third, let’s talk about the limitations of abacus mental arithmetic. Throughout the elementary school, the most important operation must be the operation of fractions, and the calculation of fractions with abacus and mental arithmetic should not be possible. In middle school and high school, the operation of irrational numbers, imaginary numbers and integers are also involved. These operations cannot be completed by abacus mental arithmetic. Therefore, if you do not plan to let your child take a professional route, it is equivalent to spending time, energy and money, which will not be helpful for the study in the upper grades. And if children are used to abacus mental arithmetic, will it hinder their learning of the following calculations? Will it be difficult to adapt and transform for a while?

This is just for discussion.