Understanding UCMAS Abacus

It's been nearly a month since the kids have been  back to school. With the children settling into their new routines, most parents are now prepping to sign up kids for after-school activities. UCMAS Abacus remains a popular choice for many parents but there are some who are still not sure of the benefits the program yields.

Go through our list of FAQs to cut the confusion and know why UCMAS is the right choice for every child.

1. I do not see the value of mental arithmetic; children are allowed to use calculators now.

UCMAS is not just a math program. It is a mental development program that uses mental arithmetic as a tool. There may be some value for kids doing arithmetic that is fast and accurate but the mental abilities and skills learnt at UCMAS are the ultimate goal and can be applied to almost every aspect of child's life, academic or otherwise.

2. My child is really smart when it comes to math, does s/he still need UCMAS?

As we've just said, UCMAS is not a math program. If your child is good with math, UCMAS will further enhance his/her abilities along with teaching them skills to improve focus, concentration and problem solving.

3. So then, what are the benefits of UCMAS program? 

· Improves Concentration 

· Improves Observation & Listening 

· Improves Imagination & Visualization 

· Strengthens Memory 

· Enhances Speed & Accuracy 

· Promotes Creativity 

· Boosts Self-Confidence 

· Lays down a Strong Foundation for Academic Achievement 

· Develops Astonishing Mental Arithmetic Abilities

4.How would the program improve concentration, memory, imagination, etc? 

Through training for each of these skills. Development occurs while challenging the child’s ability gradually but continuously to improve her/his use of the skill. 

• Concentration Kids are trained to be involved in different processes happening at same time. They gradually learn how to be focused on the task in hand and ignore different kinds of distraction.
• Observation Through the training on the flash cards and during solving mental math problems, kids take only a glance at the card or problem to start the numbers’ processing. This significantly enhances their observation abilities. The same goes for listening since kids are trained to hear numbers only once during problem solving because numbers are not repeated. With time kids significantly develop improved listening skills through continuous training. 
• Imagination & Visualization Kids are challenged to start forming a virtual abacus early in the training and soon will start using this imaginary or virtual abacus in solving problems. This continuous use of imagination and visualization techniques significantly improves the kid’s skill in these two parameters.
• Memory Kids memorize different images during their numbers training and during solving problems; they tend to memorize momentarily each image constructed after doing any arithmetic and before giving the final answer. This continuous use and training of memory significantly improve this ability especially what is known as the photographic memory. 
• Speed & Accuracy In UCMAS one of the real challenges is time. Kids are gradually trained to give accurate results in shorter and shorter times. This continuous challenge will teach kids how to optimize the use of time while staying accurate.
• Creativity Having developed imagination and visualization as well as memory, concentration and the other mental parameters and through the whole process of the right brain training and activation, kids will find it easier to be creative and inspired.
• Self Confidence As a result of the continuous positive feedback received from parents, teachers, peers and the community as well as the exposure during the program to different audiences in demonstrations, along with the improved mental abilities- kids will be given an extremely powerful boost to their self -image and confidence that will further help them in their future challenges.
• Academic Achievement Having developed all the above-mentioned parameters, it is normal for kids at UCMAS to have a very strong foundation for academic achievement and excellence.

5. When do children start reaping benefits?

Parents start seeing results after the second level, or about six months. However, attentive parents will notice improvement in different mental parameters earlier.

6. Does my child have to finish the whole UCMAS program to get the benefits? 

Children start reaping noticeable benefits from the program after the completion of second level; nevertheless, benefits gained upon completion of the program have a profound lifelong effect on child’s mental abilities.

7. How can we measure the benefit that the child has gained from the UCMAS program? Research has been done on kids to measure differences between UCMAS trained children and children who have not learnt UCMAS. Please check out these links for some available research on the subject.

8.I saw videos for 'human calculators' trained at UCMAS; can my child be like that? 

UCMAS provides instruction and training but like anything else in life, the child needs to practice. The support your child gets from you (as a parent) helps make a difference. At UCMAS, a shift to the right takes place on normal distribution curve which guarantees improvement, provided children diligently follow the course instructor's directives.

9.Will there be a regression in child’s ability for mental arithmetic after they finish the program? 

No. This is one of the main reasons why we start the mental training at the age of 6. Kids who develop their mental abilities between the ages of 6 years and 12 years will practically keep them forever. They might stop using the abacus but they will never stop using the mental skills they have developed.  Abacus skills are much like sports or music - once trained, the child will retain it forever and can easily revive those skills in a very short period of time.

We hope some of your queries have been answered but if you have more questions, call 0562604599.