Teaching ABACUS
History
The word abacus is derived from the Greek word abax which means “plank.” The earliest history of the abacus can be traced to the Babylonians and Romans. These sand tablets were made with groves that allowed the user to count with pebbles and beads, sliding along the groves to keep count of inventories.
During the 500s, the Chinese developed the first framed and beaded abacus. This form consisted of two “decks” that were divided by a bar with two beads on top and five beads on the bottom. This framed abacus represents the more familiar abacus in use today. The Chinese abacus is called a suanpan (su-WAN-pin). Today, the Japanese-style abacus is more commonly used throughout the world. The Japanese abacus has one bead on the upper deck and five on the bottom. This abacus is called a soropan.
In the early 20th century, the classroom abacus was developed to teach preschoolers to count and for simple arithmetic. This abacus has horizontal beaded wires and does not require a decking system for number placement.
The word abacus is derived from the Greek word abax which means “plank.” The earliest history of the abacus can be traced to the Babylonians and Romans. These sand tablets were made with groves that allowed the user to count with pebbles and beads, sliding along the groves to keep count of inventories.
During the 500s, the Chinese developed the first framed and beaded abacus. This form consisted of two “decks” that were divided by a bar with two beads on top and five beads on the bottom. This framed abacus represents the more familiar abacus in use today. The Chinese abacus is called a suanpan (su-WAN-pin). Today, the Japanese-style abacus is more commonly used throughout the world. The Japanese abacus has one bead on the upper deck and five on the bottom. This abacus is called a soropan.
In the early 20th century, the classroom abacus was developed to teach preschoolers to count and for simple arithmetic. This abacus has horizontal beaded wires and does not require a decking system for number placement.
Teaching Abacus
This photo shows a teaching abacus. Its beads are strung on horizontal rows of wire that start with the ones (single units) in the bottom row (yellow). This colorful abacus can be used for counting and adding and subtracting single digits 1 to 9. Each row upward represents the next multiple of ten (tens, hundreds, and so on). Because there are ten rows of beads, the top row represents billions. See the recommended video for learning how to teach with this abacus. Its use is possible for a child starting at 3 years of age or older for basic operations of counting, adding, and subtracting. More mature students can handle more difficult skill levels. Donor This teaching abacus was donated to MOTAL in 2006 by a teacher who considered it a very helpful tool as it helps children understand number concepts by manipulating the beads. It is one of the teaching tools called a “manipulative.” |
Learn More!
To learn more about the abacus, we recommend the following:
To learn more about the abacus, we recommend the following:
- How to read numbers on the abacus
- Learning simple addition and subtraction on the abacus
- "How to Use an Abacus and Teach Kids Math" (by blessedmom, WeHaveKids.com, updated April 19, 2016)
- American and Japanese student abacus competition
- History of the abacus