Emma: Good!
Mama: Good! Next time, you can count properly.
Emma: No, count fast!
It was just her first lesson and she somehow understood why she's learning abacus. When we were there at trial class, Teacher joy shown her how fast the children at Fun with Abacus could do their calculations. They were even much faster than one could press the calculator. She was impressed. How did they do it? They used mental calculations. After mastering abacus, the children actually move on to learn mental calculations. How cool!
Fun with Abacus
Fun with Abacus is an abacus and mental arithmetic school that specialises in teaching the young to learn the 4 basic mathematical operations at young age. With more than 10 years of experience, they aim to help the young learners to learn better! They have outlets at Katong Plaza, West Coast Centre and Seng Kang West.
How's the lesson?
At her first lesson, she was given a bright yellow bag, 9-beads abacus and practice book. She was so excited about it!
Fun with Abacus focuses on small group learning. There were 3 - 4 other students in her class. After giving assignment to them, Teacher Koh gave Emma an introduction of abacus and went through with her the basics before getting her to do the practice. It was easy for Emma to follow because Teacher Koh was really patient and taught at Emma's learning pace. She also try to make the lesson more fun with cute terms like starting point, neighbour and buddy when she teaches!
The 1 hr class comprised teaching of concepts, practice, marking and corrections in multiple cycles. At the end of the lesson, Teacher Koh shared with us what they learnt and taught us the basics too. This way, we can help her with her homework. Yes, there's homework but it usually takes less than 15 mins to finish them.
After close to 3 months, Emma is able to do her sums (ie. x + y - z) using her abacus independently under supervision. She has also mastered her number bonds (numbers that make up 10). While she's still not very confident with herself and always look for assurance, I can see that she's better with numbers and calculations.
Why Abacus?
Honestly, I was hesitant about enrolling to abacus class. Having learnt abacus in school for a short while, I didn't see any benefits. However, I realised it was because it didn't move on to the mental arithmetic calculation part. We did it in big group so as a slow learner when I was younger, I don't think I managed to catch up well. On the other hand, Hubby was super keen to let her learn.
Her classes so far are generally more play-based. But, abacus needs her 100% attention and discipline that she lacks of. It takes much endurance and determination to sit there and finish the questions. Since she was a year away from primary one, I thought it would be a good time to cultivate some serious learning.
In addition, abacus helps to build firm numeracy foundation to better prepare her for primary school. Children not only learn to count, but they learn to count with speed and accuracy. Over time, they also learn to visualise and imagine when they get to arithmetic. In the long run, their mental agility and attention span will be higher!
Thanks Fun with Abacus for being part in Emma's learning journey!
Discount code
Quote "Ashlynthia" to enjoy $100 off the course fees and get free 1 on 1 assessment at both Katong and Newest centre (West Coast). Hop over to Fun With Abacus website to find out more!
No comments:
Post a Comment