I"m an american mom with NO familiarization with ANY kind of abacus. I didn’t even know there were different kinds or that anybody even used them until checking out the forums here. my almost 19m old is doing LM with little or no success/understanding. I am probably going to go to the Jones Genius matrix math after LR. They put dots on their numbers to get a visualization of numbers while you are learning numerals, but then i am wondering if that would interfere/confuse any potential future abacus learning and wonder if i should just leave off until abacus or introduce it right now to her or in the next six months or so. I’ve looked at the forums for abacus programs and they all seem to start about 5. is there a reason for this? is there an earlier program? thanks for anyone’s help!
Hi dsahala,
I too am very interested in the abacus program, not only for my grandson (now 4 years old) but also cause i am curious how they can do the opperations so fast. I like math very much and my grandson knows is numbers since an early age.
I found a page where they mention the pros and cons of teaching earlier than 5 yrs old. I think is cause they not only need to know their numbers and the concept behind but they need a certain level of maturity. As they mention , not al kids are equal and maybe some can start earlier. But… you need a good teacher to sponsor him.
here is the link i foun interesting:
http://www.parentree.in/groupdiscussion-3901/Pros-cons-of-starting-abacus-classes-at-4.html
I am planning to introduce abacus to our little one when she turns 1. Initially I would just start of showing just single digits on a toy abacus or something. Eventually, depending on how she picks up and her aptiude towards abacus I would progress on to a proper abacus board (maybe around 2 yrs of age ??). Planning to send her to an abacus classroom when she turns 4 (that’s min age for admission).Well, these are just my thoughts and aspirations 
Thanks for the link BEEBES
and for the tip momtobaby.
i have another question for you momtobaby…What is an abacus board? What is a single digit abacus? I really don’t know anything about them.
Well, what I meant by an abacus board is the board with the beads. So when starting off I thought initially I might start of with a toy abacus …like the picture below
and then later on move on to the proper abacus …like a japanese abacus (pic below) or a chinese abacus.
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_LoQxRX3r_ac/SbJ70iBaNTI/AAAAAAAAAl8/UjHlQ5gx22M/s400/japanese+abacus1.jpg
U can calculate any number of digits on the abacus…so what I meant by single digit is 1 to 10. Its easier for a 1 yr old to understand 1 to 10 on the abacus. Slowly we can teach them how to calculate bigger numbers.
oh. i really see the difference in your pictures. is there an advantage to japanese vs chinese and i’ve seen NP or ap or something type too?