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A boon to parents and teachers, a simple technique taught in early childhood, the abacus method originated in China. It is a more than 2000 years old art and skill. This ancient art has survived the onslaught of time, because it is a proven technique for the brain development.
Abacus !, the word is not an uncommon word. It is now accepted and practiced in several countries China-principally, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore and now in India for the first time, in Chennai, so that the children, parents and teachers can benefit from the program. This will help children fare better in all area where learning is required.
The program Mental Arithmetic System, is only a tool to develop the right brain. The brain is made up of two hemispheres, the left and the right, Research on the brain science reveals that the left hemisphere provides analytical information concerning. Language and sound; the right hemisphere provides integral - information process dealing with information concerning shape and space. This program by increasing processing and is good at dealing with contribute to the whole brain development of the individual.
Left-brain governs the right limbs and the right brain, left limbs. Conversely the action of the limbs also has an influence on the development of the brain. The children are from infancy taught to use their right hand for most of the work they do like eating and writing. So the right hand is used more than the left hand throughout life, so the right brain function is not well developed. The learning of Abacus mental arithmetic accelerates the development of brain.
The brain of a six-year-old child has reached the weight of 1200 gram making up 86% of the adult brain. At this time the child has approached the sensitive period of thinking in their visual receptivity, aural recognition of sound and flexibility of finger muscles. So we work with children from 4 to 12 years.
In western countries today, the abacus is seen chiefly as a kindergarten teaching tool. In the Middle East, Russia, and the Orient, however, it is still very much a part of modern life, used not only by tradesmen but by business offices and even by race-track cashiers. The Russian abacus is a frame of ten undivided rods holding ten beads each, called the s'choty. A somewhat similar abacus is called a choreb by Armenians, coulba by Turks. This type apparently developed among the Arabs or Persians and was carried northward to Russia in comparatively recent times.
As a result of more efficient design and methods of operation, the use of the abacus has actually been increasing in Japan in recent decades. The use of the abacus is part of the arithmetic curriculum in grade schools, Japanese abacisats are recognized as skilled professionals, trained in special schools and licensed as first-grade, second-grade, or third-grade operators according to speed and accuracy.
The speed and accuracy of abacus calculations was demonstrated in 1946 in Japan in a contest held between a Japanese soroban expert and a highly skilled desk-calculator operator selected by competition among U.S.Army payroll clerks. The abacus came out ahead in addition, subtraction, division, and problems involving combinations of these operations. The electronic calculator won only the multiplication contest.
An educational toy in the west, a business tool in the Orient, the abacus holds an important place in technological history. In effect the primitive ancestor of the electronic computer of today, the abacus is a milestone in the use of mathematics to master the Physical world. HARTLEY HOWE
COURTESY : ENCYCLOPEDIA VOL.1 EDITION: NEW ON 1999.
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