• Replies 9 replies
  • Subscribers 29 subscribers
  • Views 3993 views
  • Users 0 members are here
Options
Related
Hints and tips
  • To quote someone's message, first select/highlight the relevant text, and then use the Quote button that appears
  • To "mention" someone, type @ followed by the start of the forum name, and choose from the list; that person will get a notification of being mentioned

Basic Maths, Round Numbers and Suanpan

Paddy

Hello everyone,

It's been a while since I posted on here, but I would like to ask if anyone else shares this interest. For the simple reason that I had so much trouble understanding it in school, I have always had a dislike for maths, but, recently, after reading about the Japanese and Chinese abacus and downloading a virtual one, I have discovered that I absolutely love adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing round numbers. I understand the importance of being able to work with numbers that aren't exactly round, but I have found that I see a real beauty and elegance in working with whole round numbers.

In school I had to do maths problems like adding 986 and 512 and I sometimes spent weeks getting my head around the concepts and methods involved, but I understand working with round numbers so much more easily.

Am I the only one who sees the beauty and simplicity in working with round numbers, or can others relate to this as well?

Just curious, I guess.

Parents

  • Sadly, I didn't even get to A-level standard in maths. While I was in school I found it incredibly difficult to get my head around. I was very good in language-based subjects, but I don't believe I was taught maths in a way I could understand. The problem, I think, is that education is standardised for the majority (it has to be, or nothing would get done), but children are individuals and learn in different ways. For instance (I am repeating myself here, I have another post regarding this on another part of the forum), I have problems seeing numbers in my head, and keeping track of them. I believe that if I was allowed to use an abacus (preferably one of the Japanese or Chinese ones, of course this was back in the 90s, they probably weren't very common in the UK then), I would have been far better at basic maths than I was then. If I had been able to use a calculator, instead of being forced to work out things mentally, then I may well have passed GCSE maths instead of failing it.

Reply

  • Sadly, I didn't even get to A-level standard in maths. While I was in school I found it incredibly difficult to get my head around. I was very good in language-based subjects, but I don't believe I was taught maths in a way I could understand. The problem, I think, is that education is standardised for the majority (it has to be, or nothing would get done), but children are individuals and learn in different ways. For instance (I am repeating myself here, I have another post regarding this on another part of the forum), I have problems seeing numbers in my head, and keeping track of them. I believe that if I was allowed to use an abacus (preferably one of the Japanese or Chinese ones, of course this was back in the 90s, they probably weren't very common in the UK then), I would have been far better at basic maths than I was then. If I had been able to use a calculator, instead of being forced to work out things mentally, then I may well have passed GCSE maths instead of failing it.

Children
No Data