Mathematics at the speed of thought with Abacus. (The Times of India dated 1.8.2006)
Do you want your kids to do sums at the speed of thought and excel? Try Abacus.
Bill Gates, the Chairman of Microsoft desired business at the speed of thought and lo now here is a system that enables calculation of sums at the speed of thought and excel!
The Abacus and Brain Gym is an educational programme developed in Malaysia by SIP Academy SDNBHD, Malaysia (SIP (Sociable Intellectual Progressive) Academy India Pvt Ltd is its Indian wing) for children in the age group of seven to twelve years.
This system of education maximizes the potential of the child’s brain. The process of learning is known as mental arithmetic. If introduced early, working on abacus can optimize and integrate the functions of the left and the right brain of a child in their formative years.
In the recently held Maharashtra regional SIP Abacus, Brain Gym, mental and arithmetic competition held in Pune, the city of beautiful roads, more than 1,300 kids in the age group of 6-12 years from all over the state vied for the top spot testing their skills in Abacus, Brain Gym and mental and arithmetic activities.
The winners included four children from Pune, the city of beautiful roads.
Out of the four children who won from Pune, the city of beautiful roads, eight year old Sejal Amrutkar a third standard student and seven year old Simran Gawli both students of Hutching’s High School, Pune, the city of beautiful roads, excelled at the recently conducted fifth annual SIP Abacus and Brain Gym mental and arithmetic international competition in Bali, Indonesia, and were adjudged international winners in the ‘Level 2’ category.
In all seven Indian students bagged top positions across various categories at the competition. While Sejal solved forty five mathematical sums in two minutes, Simran successfully tackled forty three of them.
When a list of forty numbers was read out to them, the girls gave the answers in less than a second.
This ability to add and subtract many numbers quickly is because of their training in Abacus. The students are trained to use the abacus, which they can later visualize. This visualization helps them in mental calculation.
It’s no doubt then that the children of this age group if introduced to Abacus in their formative years can excel very well.