Abacus is the most ancient tool used for the purpose of calculations. It is one of the most important calculating devices invented for the calculation purposes. Abacus is a simple device but throughout the timeline it has proved to be an important instrument of economy.
If we go deep into the history books we come to know that abaci was used from the ancient times to perform basic arithmetical problems by the people related to any field of life. Businessmen have used it for centuries to perform basic calculations for the purpose of their routine business.
It is a true assistant for anyone who wants to perform his calculations very quickly and with full authority. This is the reason behind the fact that even in this modern era there is thought to be a need to teach children to learn perform calculations using abacus.
The reason being the simplicity of the device and its look that makes children feel it just like their toy and never let them feel bored while performing calculations on it. It is also very easy to learn and makes calculations easier for the juvenile to learn.
When the calculations are performed on abacus, a little stress is made on the mind. People who regularly perform calculations on abacus can perform them more quickly than their other counterparts who perform those calculations on electronic calculators.
Need of Abacus
There may arise a question in one’s mind that why is there a need to teach children to use abacus or to teach them solving arithmetical problems using abacus in this time of advanced technology. But the fact is that even if the advancements are made in the technology making it possible for human beings to perform complex calculations and to explore new dimensions in the field of knowledge, the mind of the child is completely empty and it is to be written on. Child’s mind could grab some things with difficulty and has the tendency of forgetting learnt topics after some time.
With the help of abacus simple arithmetical functions are easy to learn especially multiplication which may seem easier to an adult to perform but are very difficult for the juvenile to understand.
Learn While Playing
Nowadays abaci are also used as toys by children. These are among the things that they see quite often and are familiar with them. When children are asked to learn arithmetical calculation on their abaci they feel like playing and in this way they learn a lot without being bored at all. Children feel happy with something like abacus because of its shape. Anything, which has rods and beads attached to it, makes them feel good and relaxing while learning.
This process is easy to adapt for the beginners and puts less stress on the mind of children. Every bead of the abacus is assigned a particular value and it is relatively easy to learn those values and keep performing calculations on the device, as the beads are assigned certain values therefore there is no need to keep anything in mind rather keep fingers on the beads and place beads in their calculated positions. The result can be easily inferred from the positions of the beads on the rod.
Sometimes it is needed to teach children how to use abacus. For instance blind children are taught to use abacus because they cannot perform calculations on the paper. Abacus has proved out to be an ideal tool for those people as it allows them to calculate easily and quickly while being reliable. The use of abacus is easy to understand for the new beginner and it also helps in developing the mind of the children.
At the initial learning stage of a child it is almost impossible to learn all of the things in a flash. Abacus has this innate tendency to design the model for the good development of a child’s brain. The study has shown that the children which have used abacus in their past could perform arithmetical calculations more quickly and comfortably when they are grown ups.
This is due to the fact that they have the golden rule of calculating long figures with the help of broken packets of that figure in their minds and it allows them to perform more conveniently in the later stage of their life.
The use of abacus as a teaching tool has decreased in the world in the past few years. But there are still some schools in the world who teach little kids with the help of abacus. Abacus is still used in some Asian and Latin American Countries but due to the ever changing technology of the world it has become obsolete. Even now with its modern day competitors, electronic calculators, abacus stands as a comprehensive tool for simple arithmetic calculations.