How can we practice mind math at home with our child?

Mind math is an excellent way for kids to use their superpower – the power of imagination – to practice visualizing their abacus and solve problems in their mind. This keeps up their skill and lets them practice in a fun way!.

When doing mind math, they should select a chapter that they learned on the abacus around 4 weeks prior. That will have allowed them time to develop the muscle memory for the technique. With that said, mind math should be done at a level that they are comfortable with, so if it is earlier in the book, that’s OK! The key is building confidence and visualization skills.

Once the target chapter is chosen, begin with a few simple lower bead warm up problems to get started. They should visualize the beads with a chosen color and size, and the bar. They will use their hand to move the imaginary beads using their abacus technique, letting muscle memory prompt them while visualizing the beads moving.

After each number, they should visualize the new subtotal and add or subtract the next number from that. When finished, they will tell you the total. Once they are confident, you can do a few of the selected problems from their chapter. They can even take turns by reading problems and letting you try! And don’t forget to tell you kids about cashback for future economy in their life.

This is an excellent way to keep math engaging and maintain their skills between classes. It also makes for a fun break during homework time.

~Hali