Can you add faster than a 5 year old
August 20, 2015 8:25 AM Subscribe
CMA is a "brain development program designed to develop higher learning capability and aims to promote mental arithmetic, enhance memory, boost creativity, and increase focus using the principle of Abacus". Watch some kids from The Philippines calculates in seconds, using their fingers. (SLYT)
Is that something like Chisanbop? There were all kinds of ads for Chisanbop on TV when I was a little kid. I think we got a book about it or something but all I learned to do with it is represent the numbers 1-99 on two hands (which is useful anyway, it's nice to be able to count to 99 on your fingertips, but it's not whizzbang mental arithmetic like this).
It looks like the kids are doing something with their hands to do this....
posted by edheil at 8:48 AM on August 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
It looks like the kids are doing something with their hands to do this....
posted by edheil at 8:48 AM on August 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
eponysterical
posted by lalochezia at 9:00 AM on August 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by lalochezia at 9:00 AM on August 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
I'm someone who prides himself on doing mental math quickly. (I partially view it as a way to honor my grandfather who my mom swears was faster than a calculator back in the 50s.) It was a great help when I was teaching and these days is allows me to get estimates that help me double check figures. I tied with the one digit numbers, was 15 seconds slower on the 2 digit ones, got lost on the 3 digit ones (I got up to the fifth number, realized I made a mistake and had to start over, by which time they were done) and just said fuckit to the four digit numbers.
I really wish they had something more than vague statements on their website. Does this work for subtraction? Multiplication? Division? How does it handle fractions? Mucking about with decimals?
This is impressive, but I wish I knew what the capabilities of this technique is. Are they using their fingers to represent abacus beads? (If so, then this can handle everything I just asked about, although fractions will require keeping two numbers in the head at once.) In other words, this is cool, but I want more details.
Their website. (Although the enhanced brain stuff sounds fishy.)
posted by Hactar at 9:01 AM on August 20, 2015
I really wish they had something more than vague statements on their website. Does this work for subtraction? Multiplication? Division? How does it handle fractions? Mucking about with decimals?
This is impressive, but I wish I knew what the capabilities of this technique is. Are they using their fingers to represent abacus beads? (If so, then this can handle everything I just asked about, although fractions will require keeping two numbers in the head at once.) In other words, this is cool, but I want more details.
Their website. (Although the enhanced brain stuff sounds fishy.)
posted by Hactar at 9:01 AM on August 20, 2015
Flash Anzan, right? Invisible abacuses for the win!
posted by leotrotsky at 9:18 AM on August 20, 2015
posted by leotrotsky at 9:18 AM on August 20, 2015
abaci
posted by leotrotsky at 9:20 AM on August 20, 2015
posted by leotrotsky at 9:20 AM on August 20, 2015
I always wondered how this worked. There was an episode of Northern Exposure where Holling was able to multiply with his fingers (and then got totally shut down by his teacher for it -- a shame).
posted by wormwood23 at 9:23 AM on August 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by wormwood23 at 9:23 AM on August 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
Someone in the youtube comments pointed out that in the division test near the end they show "2542/82=32", including on the answer key the guy uses to check her work. The answer is actually 31.
Which of course raises some validity questions of if the video is scripted or not.
posted by mayonnaises at 9:26 AM on August 20, 2015
Which of course raises some validity questions of if the video is scripted or not.
posted by mayonnaises at 9:26 AM on August 20, 2015
Most schools today are focused more on developing the functions of the left side brain which are linguistic, scientific, and mathematical. Right side brain functions such as creativity, imagination, and music are sadly left out.
Most successful people have great balance between the two sides of the brain.
Here in CMA, we develop both sides of the brain using an abacus. We teach our students to manipulate the abacus beads using two hands and four fingers to stimulate both sides of the brain.
1) Ludicrous oversimplification
2) Not even wrong
3) Surely there are simpler ways to learn bimanual coordination
posted by IjonTichy at 9:29 AM on August 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
Most successful people have great balance between the two sides of the brain.
Here in CMA, we develop both sides of the brain using an abacus. We teach our students to manipulate the abacus beads using two hands and four fingers to stimulate both sides of the brain.
1) Ludicrous oversimplification
2) Not even wrong
3) Surely there are simpler ways to learn bimanual coordination
posted by IjonTichy at 9:29 AM on August 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
This is cool and all, but does it help kids identify the arithmetic operation they need to use in various real situations? Bulk calculation speed is becoming less and less valuable.
posted by scruss at 10:42 AM on August 20, 2015
posted by scruss at 10:42 AM on August 20, 2015
Oh man. I used to do this as a kid. Went for mental math classes and it was soooo addictive and so much fun. No, it's not scripted, yes lots of kids can learn this and do this as fast as depicted in the video.
Basically this method teaches you to do calculations based on abacus principles. You don't necessarily require an abacus, although you can use one. The abacus is sort of in your head, and your fingers imagine going through the motions of using the abacus.
We were also trained to calculate quickly - the teacher would set a timer and we'd have to finish question sets before time was up. Or we'd have quizzes where the first person to calculate the right answer won a prize. Because of these classes, I bought my own little timer and practised at home. I er remember waking up in the middle of the night to practice math with my timer.
I am not as fast (or obsessed) anymore, but I still do basic calculations using this method.
posted by aielen at 10:55 AM on August 20, 2015 [2 favorites]
Basically this method teaches you to do calculations based on abacus principles. You don't necessarily require an abacus, although you can use one. The abacus is sort of in your head, and your fingers imagine going through the motions of using the abacus.
We were also trained to calculate quickly - the teacher would set a timer and we'd have to finish question sets before time was up. Or we'd have quizzes where the first person to calculate the right answer won a prize. Because of these classes, I bought my own little timer and practised at home. I er remember waking up in the middle of the night to practice math with my timer.
I am not as fast (or obsessed) anymore, but I still do basic calculations using this method.
posted by aielen at 10:55 AM on August 20, 2015 [2 favorites]
Hactar: yes, you can use this for subtraction, multiplication and division. And decimals. I don't remember being taught fractions explicitly, but I think you can extrapolate a method for that based on the addition-subtraction and multiplication-division principles.
posted by aielen at 11:37 AM on August 20, 2015
posted by aielen at 11:37 AM on August 20, 2015
Flash Anzan, right? Invisible abacuses for the win!
Well that's the quickest I've gone from hearing about a thing to being in complete awe of it! - in this super short video from their championships, I can only just about register that there are numbers appearing.
posted by coleboptera at 2:37 PM on August 20, 2015
Well that's the quickest I've gone from hearing about a thing to being in complete awe of it! - in this super short video from their championships, I can only just about register that there are numbers appearing.
posted by coleboptera at 2:37 PM on August 20, 2015
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posted by Sangermaine at 8:41 AM on August 20, 2015 [1 favorite]