Can you calculate 21897/74 without using paper-pencil or calculator within three minutes? Abacus makes such calculations easier. Rajeshwari Nandan, an abacus instructor at SIP Academy explains, “Abacus is an instrument used for calculating. It was the first calculating machine to be invented. This device has beads representing the number systems; one has to calculate by moving beads.” The term abacus is derived from Greek word “abax” which meant a table or board covered with dust.
Visualise
How does one go about learning abacus? “Visualisation and moving the beads enables one to calculate,” says Ms. Nandan. Initially the student does calculations by moving the colourful beads along the wire, but gradually the students stop using the board and start visualising the beads to solve problems. Abacus is extremely useful in classrooms. Ashok a Std.VII student of Chirec Public School says, “Abacus makes calculations simpler, once you know how to use it.”
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Abacus national champion, Pravek Trivedi of Std. VI, Gitanjali School says, “I can do maths quicker than my friends.”
Ms. Nandan points out, “One can improve their auditory and visual skills. Eye-hand co-ordination is improved by learning abacus. Abacus also helps in stimulating brain. While using abacus one has to analyse and visualise, thus they are using both the sides of their brain. Left side of the brain is the analytical side, while the right side of the brain is the creative side of the brain.”