Hi, I have been doing research on soroban, using the free resources on the internet. What is the most commonly accepted use of fingering?
I’ve seen in most places only the use of the thumb and forefinger but have also seen in the samples of Learning Mathematics with the Abacus http://www.mathabacus.com/ that they teach using the thumb, forefinger and middle finger.
Which is best and which is the most efficient? I tried using both fingering and found the use of the 3 fingers easiest.
Great question, I’m interested to know, as well. Where’s Soroban Tom when we need him!? 
finger slipped and my reply disappeared, I think!
I am after the same info. on fingering ,as the Nurture Minds curriculum uses 3 fingers, and everywhere else I see, including videos on competitors in Japan, uses 2.
Also, is there any benefit in reversing the order in which Big and Little friends are either added or subtracted?
My daughter has an easier time when she can deal with all problems the same way: either use the inverse number first in all cases, or do the adding or subtracting of 5 or 10 first, in all cases. But her workbook makes it very clear that when adding using an inverse number, it’s one way (I forget which, but say for our purposes it’s adding the 10 bead first and then subtracting the inverse number), and when subtracting using inverse numbers, it’s the reverse order of operations (first deal with the adding of the inverse number, and then carry the 10 bead, in this case subtracting).
I don’t get why it’s so important to do the carrying first in one case, and last in the other, so long as the kid understands that for overall addition, you must add the 10 and subtract the inverse for a net gain, and for overall subtraction, you must subtract the 10 and add the inverse, for net loss. Why does it matter to deal with the 10 first in one case, and deal with it second, in the other case?
But I have to assume there is a reason, because they are so exacting on it, just as there must be a reason for their careful training to use 3 fingers. Yet I know some of the leading competitors in the world use 2 fingers…I just wish I could find out if leading competitors also do their operations in reverse order with respect to the carrying bead, between adding and subtracting. I just need to know before committing. It would be sad to have my kids learn a method that slows them down, for no other reason than it was the first one I encountered.
Soroban is best way to teach mathematics. It is used like the thumb to set the 1 beads, which are the 4 lower ones, use the forefinger to set the 5 beads at the top, take upper beads with the forefinger and not the thumb and The pinch is just what it sounds like - the thumb and forefinger are pinched together. This happens with 6, 7, 8 and 9 if there are enough beads.
Couldn’t see how old the post was, but normally thumb and froefinger should be used.
I guess experienced users might also be able to use the middle finger.
About the reverse order discussion: technically there is no difference, but I suspect there is a speed advantage in reversing the order, and maybe also helps in the mechanisation.
The pros say:
When adding, always add first, then apply the carry.
When subtracting, borrow first, then subtract.
My boys are currently on abacus grades 5 and 6.
Because of the abacus they are far ahead in “regular” math grades. Kael (8yr) is doing 7 th grade math and the twins 7r olds are doing 5th grade math. We started soroban with other courses out there and stumbled our way to Abacus Brain Gym and haven’t looked back once. Because of Abacus Brain Gym their speed and accuracy was easily accomplished. They now do instant mental addition, subtraction, multiplication and division including decimals.
IAbacusbraingym.com has available courses online. They teach the grand master curriculum. The only online platform with the full grade level (10-1 with 1 being the hightest) curriculum and all three learning paths-reading, listening and flash anzan. After teaching my boys for a while with their program I became a certified teacher for them and now run 2 schools in Houston. Of all the programs out there ( I tried all the ones available at the time) Abacus Brain Gym is the only one that delivered the results you see on the Youtube videos with kids doing mental soroban math.
Regarding finger movements the method is:
For earth beads/lower beads: plus is “thumbs up” and minus is “finger down”
For the heaven/upper beads: always use finger for plus and minus.