I am seeking advise on whether one can begin a child in the abacus and then later transition them into vedics mathematics. Or is the abacus sufficient enough in mental math that teaching vedics would be redundant?
Thanks
Hi there,
I’m sure you know that I’m a Soroban teacher and obviously biased so take this for what it is.
I’ve read some of the Vedic math techniques and I personally didn’t like the overall philosophy they have regarding calculations.
To me, it seemed like a collection of techniques to handle very specific calculations. (I’m not saying that this example is exactly how Vedic math works since It’s been a while since I read the 1 book I had on it) An example on what they might teach is: 1000 - 384 means that you have to learn what 9-3, 9-8 and 10-4 is to find that the answer is 616. Essentially they teach that you can skip the concept of borrowing 10 (for the hundreds and tens) for this type of problem since you know that you will have to borrow it at the end for the one’s and you will get the same answer Sourcehttp://vedicmaths.org/introduction/tutorial/tutorial.asp#tutorial1
This would be counter to a Soroban program that I would teach, where I would emphasize understanding the concept of getting 10 from the larger digit (10 hundreds in a thousand, 10 tens in a hundred, etc) and doing each step correctly.
I think this type of learning creates fewer but more robust rules for children that they can then apply to other problems.
But the cost of course is that the learning curve is slightly steeper since you can’t just memorize a rule. I think the good outweighs the costs.
Let me know what you think,
Tom
Thanks. That does really put things in perspective for me.
This is entertaining and his techniques are very similar to those used in Vedic math. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4vqr3_ROIk
Chris.
*Obviously I can't seem to figure out how to embed the video into my post. :confused:
I am finding that vedics mathematics has very dynamic ways of finding answers while the soroban might be more ridge. I am just learning about the abacus (I can’t even find a place to buy one in my town of over 500,000, but I am learning a lot from these forums.
The above video demonstrates some of what I call “magic” of math, and vedics really opens the window to the way math is everywhere and in everything. I have been okay at math, but I have never been fascinated by math until my recent discovery of vedics.
I am curious if anyone knows if you can successfully teach one method side by side with another. That is can I teach the use of the abacus while teaching the use of the different sutras of vedics mathematics.
I am currently working through a free teacher’s manual on vedic mathematics at the Elementary level found here: http://www.vedicmaths.org/Bookstores/V%20M%20Teacher’s%20Manual%201.asp
My children are only 2 and 3 so I am just trying to figure it all out now.
Nothing Vedic About ‘Vedic Mathematics’?
You might find this interesting- http://folks.co.in/blog/2010/01/02/nothing-vedic-about-‘vedic-mathematics’/
You can purchase a good quality used abacus on eBay.
Chris.
You are a wealth of knowledge Chris. Thanks for the share.
i am so glad to be around others who appreciate math 
i loved both videos! wouldn’t you like to know art’s opinion on how to teach the kiddos? i’m most curious about the mnemonics he used!
since seeing the master chess player’s nat geo video, i’ve wondered about mnemonics and numbers. she was exposed to the chess patterns so frequently that they became like faces/images to her - stored in the same part of the brain. if i’ve got it right, mnemonics attach images stored in this area to something that isn’t stored in this area (like numbers and/or a deck of cards, for most) to make it easier to recall. it’s not commonplace to expose your child to numbers so early as what some of us are doing.
i wonder: would these mnemonics even be necessary if, due to frequent use/exposure, numbers (or a deck of cards) were stored in the same area as these images ?
isn’t that kinda what mental math does - moves the store/recall location in the brain to make it more efficient?
He uses the Phonetic Code System to store partial results in the middle of difficult calculations. My earlier post on the relationship between language and maths provides details about this mnemonic method. http://forum.brillkids.com/teaching-your-child-math/relationship-between-language-and-maths/
I hope that you find the link useful.
Chris.
thanks so much, chris!
I still wonder: if one is exposed to numbers early on, are such mnemonic methods necessary, since mnemonic devices are to help call up either unfamiliar information by associating it with familiar visual and/or audio triggers. wouldn’t numbers become ‘familiar’ with early exposure?
hmm.
ferris… class? anyone? anyone? 