4 ms·

As others have rightly pointed out, it's not really taught in the schools here (in Japan). All three of my kids went (and are still going through) public school

As others have rightly pointed out, it's not really taught in the schools here (in Japan). All three of my kids went (and are still going through) public schooling. I think they took a soroban to school for just a couple days and that was about it. They still can't use one. However, many parents want to send their kids to soroban classes after school, especially when they're around ages 7-11 or so. There's a feeling that it makes you much faster with arithmetic. My wife (Japanese) is very quick at doing sums in her head.

ioltas 7y ago
I am not sure, but doesn't it make also sense financially for some parents to send their kids to soroban classes because that's actually cheaper and more frequent in a week than other alternatives when they cannot go anymore to the public after-school services (I speak about gakudo/学童 here)?
seanmcdirmid 7y ago
Should doing arithmetic quickly in ones head be considered a virtue? I wish math classes would focus more on the abstraction aspect and less on calculation.
- SECProto 7y ago
  Yes, I think it should be considered a virtue. It's a very useful skill that I used daily. It shouldn't be beaten into kids ("learn your timestables!!" is not an effective teaching method), but if using an abacus or similar helps people calculate faster, it is likely a good thing.
- Baeocystin 7y ago
  Not that I disagree about wanting more of the abstraction taught, but absolutely, 100% yes. Accurate, rapid mental math is a core life skill, and the lack of it causes people real problems.
  - seanmcdirmid 7y ago
    There are many people who are bad/slow at calculation and amazing at math; many of them have math PhDs even. Ya, they might use a calculator in their daily life, but those are cheap anyways. It would be nice to get an ALU implanted in my brain, it would be much more efficient for calculation than using a neural network.
    - Baeocystin 7y ago
      Mental math skills are for prosaic daily-life problems, and have almost nothing to do with mathematics as a discipline. (Being good at spelling on its own does not make one a good writer.) Not needing a calculator at the grocery store to figure out which of some competing products are cheaper per unit mass, or figure out change + tip at a restaurant is useful knowledge.

ioltas 7y ago

I am not sure, but doesn't it make also sense financially for some parents to send their kids to soroban classes because that's actually cheaper and more frequent in a week than other alternatives when they cannot go anymore to the public after-school services (I speak about gakudo/学童 here)?

seanmcdirmid 7y ago

Should doing arithmetic quickly in ones head be considered a virtue? I wish math classes would focus more on the abstraction aspect and less on calculation.

SECProto 7y ago
Yes, I think it should be considered a virtue. It's a very useful skill that I used daily. It shouldn't be beaten into kids ("learn your timestables!!" is not an effective teaching method), but if using an abacus or similar helps people calculate faster, it is likely a good thing.
Baeocystin 7y ago
Not that I disagree about wanting more of the abstraction taught, but absolutely, 100% yes. Accurate, rapid mental math is a core life skill, and the lack of it causes people real problems.
- seanmcdirmid 7y ago
  There are many people who are bad/slow at calculation and amazing at math; many of them have math PhDs even. Ya, they might use a calculator in their daily life, but those are cheap anyways. It would be nice to get an ALU implanted in my brain, it would be much more efficient for calculation than using a neural network.
  - Baeocystin 7y ago
    Mental math skills are for prosaic daily-life problems, and have almost nothing to do with mathematics as a discipline. (Being good at spelling on its own does not make one a good writer.) Not needing a calculator at the grocery store to figure out which of some competing products are cheaper per unit mass, or figure out change + tip at a restaurant is useful knowledge.