Hi Mavis,

Thank you for posting your question on the board. The best way to help you son "see" quantities on the abacus is to make sure he uses the abacus at all times. Something else you can do is to have him look at the abacus and then have him close his eyes and ask him if he can "see" the abacus in his head. If he says no, ask him to see a picture of the abacus in his head. The best thing we can do is to continually have our children use the abacus as long as they need to. Also, feel free to slow down on these lessons and take time for your child to assimilate all the information he has been presented. There is quite a bit of information and knowledge imparted in these RS lessons. If you don't already have the math card game book I would recommend that you consider purchasing it and playing more of the numeration games in that book. Sometimes taking a rest from the formal lessons is a good way to allow assimilation of new information to take place.

I hope this helps answer you question.

Sounds like you're doing a good job. Thanks for giving your son a RightStart in math.

Sincerely, Rosine

Hi Rosine,
thanks for your reply. he's a bit lazy to move the beads on the abacus!! yeah, i've got the math card game bk.. by the way, he can't seem to understand that 29+1= 30 ==> i.e. The tens digit changes each time we add 1 or 2 or etc... he will tell me 2 ten ten (he actually meant 2 ten and another ten, but he just can't do it mentally unless i write it out for him.) Is there a better way to help him understand? Thanks..

Dear Mavis,
I hope you don't mind me jumping in here. I think it is wonderful that you son can say two ten ten. That shows he knows exactly how much it is. Remember, he is only four. Language is still new for him. He has the conceptual understanding and the language part will solidify. Please do have him use the abacus to show you the answer and stay away from relying on the paper and pencil and "you" writing it out for him. We want to enable our children to go beyond us in mathematical reasoning, that is why visualizing the abacus in his head is so important. That is what the Japanese do that causes them to surpass us in mathematical reasoning at such an early age. Keep pressing on. You are giving your son an incredible advantage by starting so young, but be sure to stop and play the games. The matching quantities is critical for him to be able to start "seeing it in his head" too.
Hope this helps.
Nancy

Hi Nancy,
Thanks for your kind advice. I usually write those equations on the board for him to solve (mentally). But at times like this, i do try to ask him to use the abacus if he doesn't get it- just that he's sometimes unwilling to do so. Yeah, guess i'll have to encourage him to use the abacus more often so that he can picture it in his head : )

Many thanks!