Concentration >

Using a soroban requires your undivided attention. As a result, practicing with the abacus is good on multiple levels! The soroban imposes a mental discipline requiring: concentration, focus and attention. You can't let your mind wander while you are doing abacus calculations. The abacus requires attention in listening, and in translating numbers into actions.

The abacus has been shown to be beneficial to people with Attention Deficit Disorder, or ADD! It turns out that having an object to focus on, along with the sensations of physically-touching the beads, and making the required motor movements make it far easier to maintain focus, than abstract math symbols alone do!

Abacus users exercise their memory recall with every problem they solve. They become well-exercised in recalling math rules, finger movements, procedures, interim sums and products, and in tracking where they are in the solution process.

During tutoring, the user is eased into these mental feats so that it is not overwhelming. Over time, mental stamina, structure, and organization are increased!