Abacus Mind Math Instruction Book Level 3: Step by Step Guide to Excel at Mind Math with Soroban, a Japanese Abacus (Abacus Mind Math - Level - 3 ... Book, Workbook 1 of 2, Workbook 2 of 2) Paperback – June 17, 2015

This series really taught me to use an abacus! I had a knee replacement, and those first weeks are painful, even with painkillers. This series kept my mind off the pain and the drills train your mind. I felt like an expert when i was done with the series. Get all the books and work them in order. Buy a nice abacus online, and have fun learning!

I purchased the entire curriculum: all Instructor’s guides and all workbooks. I began using the curriculum for my two children, who were 4 and 5. First, (as mentioned before) students do need to know how to read numbers from 1-99, know place values (ones, tens and hundreds) and be able to write numbers.I had no previous exposure to the Soroban; therefore the Instructor’s Book was essential. I was pleasantly surprised at how quickly - with dedication and work - my children picked up the skills necessary to use the Soroban. Ten months after starting the curriculum, my children are halfway through book three of the six workbooks. We have taken two weeks, instead of one week to repeat about three lessons which they found to be difficult. Additionally, I am currently taking about three weeks to practice mental math with them, as this skill has provided the greatest challenge (although both children are doing better than I would have predicted).I would highly recommend this curriculum with some caveats:1. You must be committed to sticking to the 5-6 day per week schedule.2. This commitment includes practicing with your child daily; it is likely that they cannot do this without a parent unless they are older than 12. (For example, I spend an hour on Mondays introducing the new lesson and practicing. Tuesday-Friday, I spend from 30-45 minutes with my children as they practice/do Soroban homework).I have found the customer support to be extremely helpful. They have emailed me detailed responses and spent a good deal of time on a phone call to answer some of my questions and concerns.If you have the time and discipline, this program can work very well for your child/student. I would never have imagined that my 5 and 6 year old would be capable of doing three digit mental calculations before I started using this program; it really does work and I am hoping they have plans to release additional levels that introduce multiplication, division, percentages, decimals and negative numbers for children.