Learning Resources Ten-Row Abacus, Early Math Skills, Addition and Subtraction, Manipulatives for Kids, Back to School, Ages 5+

Very durable item. The material it's made from is firm.

Love for helping with kids school work

Fun tool to use in teaching my toddler grandson his numbers. We use as a scoreboard when he is playing basketball. He counts out the beads for the points he scores for making a basket. Abacus is very sturdy. Highly recommend.

I bought this for my daughter because her preschool teacher said she was "not progressing" in math - she just wasn't interested. We've had this abacus for just 4 weeks, and I've personally seen my daughter advance dramatically - from counting 1-20 (she had a hard time with the teens at first), she went to 100, to simple addition, to counting by 2s and 10s, and now she's doing simple subtraction - all in the space of a few weeks. But the great thing is she loves it - to her, it's a toy, not work. She loves to show people the abacus and asks them to do math problems with her. I suspect the key to the abacus may be that it uses the senses - kids can touch it, and I think that really helps. Now she doesn't even need to count out, say, 5 beads - she just clicks over 5 and off she goes. And the great thing is that she's started doing math on her own in her preschool class - she loves it now. I can't say that this product is better than other abacuses, although it is well built and quite durable, but it certainly fit our needs. The funny thing is that my wife wants me to buy another one for our 2 year old son, who is also fascinated by it.

Our four year old and one year old played with this roughly, and it broke. Might not be fair to blame the product, since they were rough with it, but since kids sometimes are rough on toys, I thought i would mention that when it breaks, tiny chokeable beads go everywhere. (My one year old instantly tried to stuff them into his mouth.) So it's a pretty good product, actually, but if your kids have to be reminded to be gentle with their toys, you might want to wait to get this product until they are old enough not to choke on it.

Admittedly, I did not buy this product for the use they advertise - I pretty much have counting down, and this *does not* function as a real abacus in terms of learning to do more complex math functions (as it is easy to see it does not have the split and the 5/2 bead arrangement). However, I've found two very handy uses for it and am quite happy with the product. 1) I originally bought this to keep track of the laps I swim in the pool. I like to relax and let my mind wander as I swim, and would inevitably lose track of the lap I was on - an issue in that I'm really trying to keep to a regime and increase the number of laps. Being mostly plastic, this can sit on the edge of the pool and get wet, and it takes only a second to flick a bead over as I turn (true, I don't flip-turn under water, that would make it impossible). The metal rods that hold the beads have not shown any signs of taking issue with the water, and I'm optimistic it will hold up well. 2) As mentioned in another review, this works great for knitting and crocheting, and keeping track of rows. I have a crafting pegboard made specifically for that, but it take a lot more time and effort to move the little pegs - you don't even have to put down your work to shove the bead over, and not more pesky trying to count the rows to remember where you are. This may be a useless review for those wishing to purchase an educational toy, but maybe if it gives someone an idea of another way to tackle a different problem, it's worth it.

Good

I purchased this to use with my Granddaughter who is going into 1st grade. The beads are plastic, move smoothly across the bar. It is colorful. We will enjoy using this ancient teaching tool.

My grandson is using it in kindergarten, and his math is really improving.

Muy Bonito y practico. Buen material. Se Qaeda parado

This was a great product. I really liked it a lot. It arrived as advertised. It came very quickly. I will buy it again. I recommend it to anyone.

Good size. Easy to use.