Amazing Abacus Addition and Subtraction

This is the best abacus ever. I wish it were sturdier--I have my doubts about how long it will last--but in spite of that, I'm giving it 5 stars. I was dreading teaching my daughter to add multiple digits with carrying and borrowing, but we started doing that this week, and thanks to the abacus, there has not been one single tear (we home school, by the way). She got it the first day within about 15 minutes, and she has got 100% on her workbook page today (alone). I let her use the abacus if she needs it, but I found that, surprisingly, it has helped her to do more mental math than she ever did before. The two-color system is genius! And I love the other side, with the place value spots on it. It is for doing addition with 3-4 digits, or numbers that add up to more than 100.

I just started using it with my son today (just turned 6), and he loves it. I wish I had had it when my daughter was in kindergarten! I think she would be more advanced now than she is, and have learned all her addition tables instead of only half of them (she's 8). It's so useful for both visual and kinesthetic learners, but honestly I think it would be helpful for any kind of learner, really.

I had read (and now agree) that the multi-colored (in this case bi-coloring) really helps kids easily see what is five, six, seven, etc. without having to count it out. I am glad I listened to the reviewer on that, because that is why I bought this one, as opposed to some of the cute wooden ones (which have different colors but not within one line of ten.) Anyone, this is helping my six year old SEE math!!

This abacus is inexpensive and very functional. If a small child breaks it you can easily replace it. As a first grader my teacher taught me to use an abacus; this gives a child a significant advantage in grasping the concepts of basic math. You have columns for ones, tens, hundreds and thousands. My three year old daughter now understands that when she gets ten beads of ones that is the same as 1 bead in the hundreds columns and she can count one to a hundred and compare to her wall chart.

This is a great learning tool; a child can use their minds and their hands at the same time. The abacus holds their interest.

This is a great, inexpensive way to start a child learning math without boring them into inattentiveness. The image doesn't really show it but if you slide all the beads on one wire there is adequate space between the beads on the adjacent wires (which is necessary to really use it). Beads alternate colors at intervals of 5 which facilitates exercises such as counting by fives.

We use this abacus to play an educational game with our daughter. We set up a little market in our home and she keeps up with what she has sold using the abacus. I fully expect that she will be able to calculate her gross sales in a few months.

This is a great abacus! I purchased this to help in our homeschooling math lessons and the kids love it!

Here's what I liked:
- The size - It fits perfectly on top of their school books and doesn't take up a ton of extra space.
- The groups of 5 beads - This is a good visual reminder that numbers can easily be split by 5's. (8 is 5+3)
- Sturdy frame - The red frame is not only easy to find but it is thick and very sturdy.
- Metal slides - Metal surpasses wood on nearly every level. The beads slide easily and we don't have to worry about breaking or getting splinters.
- Place value guides - These guides make it easy to visually show how place values work.

I would recommend this abacus for any child who prefers hand's on learning or even Visual Learners.

Bought this to assist in subitizing skills, and also because one like this is recommended by the Math home school curriculum we use. It's a nice size (not too large, slips easily into an under-pocket desk or hangs on a hook on the wall), the frame is deep enough to allow beads to slide freely even while lying flat, and it has a reverse side with place-value prints for teaching adding large numbers. The small instruction booklet that came with it, explained the use of the reverse side and the front side, and how to use it to teach various skills, even how to represent multiplication by array. Very useful and important item at a good price.