The mighty abacus
The abacus can be used to solve basic arithmetic operations such as addition, subtraction, multiplication and division as well as more advanced operations such as square roots and logarithms.
The abacus may have been invented nearly 5000 years ago, but several school students are benefiting from it even today, as a way to improve memory, concentration, logical thinking, reasoning, information processing and analytical ability.
There are many institutes whose programmes are designed to develop children’s mental capability. One such institute is International Concept of Mental Arithmetic System (ICMAS) which has over 1000 centres across India. It has 160 centres in Hyderabad.
On November 14, ICMAS conducted a National Abacus Championship at St Mary’s High School, Secunderabad. As many as 1000 children from all across the country competed with one another to win trophies and scholarships.
Manohar Prasad, MD of ICMAS says, “In countries like China and Japan, Abacus training is part of school curriculum. Our mission is to ensure that every child in India is abacus enabled by 2020.” IMA Mental Arithmetic Academy is another such institute that teaches mental arithmetic using abacus for children in the age groups of 4-13 years. There are 40 centres in Hyderabad. The IMA Mental Arithmetic Academy conducted the 3rd State Level Abacus and Mental Arithmeitc Competition at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan on November 13.
Says S B Krishna, MD of International Mental Arithmetic, India, “Children who have mastered the skills of abacus mental arithmetic will have a strong foundation in mathematics. They will also have a superior memory compared to other children their age.
Both these combined will help them perform better in their academics especially science subjects.” Studies have shown that early introduction of a child to abacus training helps develop higher computing skills and better development of brain along with better concentration and memory. Says Neelima Chaudhary, whose 7 year old daughter participated in ICMAS’s National Abacus Competition, “After abacus training, my daughter’s calculation speed is much faster. Her concentration power has also improved tremendously.” Children naturally have a vast resource of brain power. If nurtured at a young age using techniques like mental arithmetic, their young minds can be stimulated to their fullest potential.