Reflective Monday Immunisation- Mummy & Me

Have you got your jab already? Today Roy and I had our jabs. He had his 18mth DPT ( Diphtheria, Pertussis & Tetanus) booster while I took the 1st out of 3 Hep-B(Hepatitis B ) shot. He was a brave boy and didn’t even grinch at the sight of the needle. He was more interested in raiding the jar of sweets that the doctor had on his desk. 🙂 My shot was a bit more painful than I had expected but seeing that Roy could sit through with without any fuss I couldn’t show any sign of discomfort. I just grit my teeth and went through it looking unaffected [ Can’t show that I have less tolerance to pain then he has right?? ]

With that prick it marked the end of the series of compulsory shots that he had to go through. The next shot ( which is optional but I want him to take) will be the Chickenpox Vaccine which I had scheduled for next month together with my 2nd Hep-B shot.

*Kid’s health has a detailed write up on DPT and Hep-B if anyone is interested.

June 13, 2008

Abacus for Kids

Dominique Parenting Views, Recommendations abacus, enrichment lessons

Recently a girlfriend of mine has been enquiring about Abacus class for her 4yr old. She was seeking opinions on which centre was better and whether learning the Abacus will confuse her child with learning maths when he enters primary school. To give her a more informed view about the benefits of learning the Abacus I decided on using the topic for a post.

The Abacus has been use as a mathematical tool for calculation since ancient times. The type of Abacus commonly used is the Soroban (Japanese Version) where there is 1 row of beads above the bar and 4 rows below.

To learn how to use the Abacus you can read through the instructions

Advantages of using the Abacus

It helps to strengthen mental calculation- addition, subtraction, multiplication and division
Improves memory and thinking skills
Sharpens the child’s observations and analytical skills
Is a tool for left brain training
Is a skill you learn for live and you do not need to rely on the calculator to do simple calculations.

I have taught the Abacus to my third year primary(elementary) students in school for three years. It was part of the maths syllabus which, sadly, has been taken out in the most recent revision of the syllabus. I experience how it did help the students calculate faster and more accuarately. Even though we only cover the basic addition and subtractions up to four digits I have seen their progress through the drill & practice sessions that we had.

Are you going to give your child a head start in Mathematics through learning the Abacus?