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Use an Abacus to Help Students Visualize Math

Tags

Mathematics Study Skills & Tools Elementary School Strategy

Skills

Working Memory Abstract Reasoning

Use an Abacus to Help Students Visualize Math

If your student has good spatial skills but needs help with numeracy

How To Apply It!

  1. An abacus can be great for teach elementary math for students who enjoy working with concrete objects, using their motor skills, and testing their speed.
  2. The abacus is a visual tool for computing math problems. It is still widely-used in Asian countries.
  3. Using an abacus can improve a child's memory for quantities and for spatial orientation. Over time, the children develop a visual memory, or "mental abacus", allowing them to figure out complex problems of addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and even square roots and cubes, without using either the actual abacus or a pencil.

Why It Works (the Science Of Learning)!

An abacus offers the benefits of hands-on learning and helping students effectively visualize math problems. While American schools rarely teach with an abacus if you have a child struggling with the abstract and often monotonous activity of memorizing math facts, it might be worthwhile to experiment with teaching with an abacus.