Learn the secrets of Japanese mental arithmetic.
Become a soroban master!
The secrets of Japanese mental arithmetic were available in Poland only to a few. Our book CHANGES EVERYTHING! It is unique because it reveals the secrets of the Japanese soroban abacus and the Ishido-Shiki method.
The book The Soroban. Contexts. Theory. Practice is the only publication outside of Japan devoted to this method. It is also the only one generally available in Polish, which allows you to learn calculations on your own on the soroban. The presented method is friendly, extremely effective, available to children (from about 5 years of age) and adults.
The book is under the patronage of the Soroban Foundation of Japna
Contents
Foreword
Introduction
Qr codes
1. Contexts
1.1. Education of tomorrow
1.2. Education and culture in Japan
1.3. The history of numbers
1.4. The history of the soroban
1.5. The method of Ishido (Ishido-Shiki)
1.6. Soroban Foundation of Japan
1.7. Shiroi Abacus Museum
1.8. The Soroban in Poland
2. Theory
2.1. Who is the soroban for?
2.2. Difficulties related to learning the soroban
2.3. Mental arithmetic and the soroban
2.4. The role and tasks of parents in children’s learning process
2.5. Opinions about the Ishido method
2.6. Before you start learning
3. Practice
3.1. The numbers 0, 1, 2, 3, 4
3.2. The numbers 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
3.3. Addition with the value-5 bead
3.4. Subtraction using the value-5 bead
3.5. The numbers 10, 11,… , 20, …
3.6. Operations with the number 9
3.7. Operations with the number 8
3.8. Operations with the number 7
3.9. Operations with the number 6
3.10. Operations within the number of 50
3.11. Operations with numbers over 50
3.12. Operations with numbers over 100
3.13. Multiplication by single-digit numbers
3.14. Multiplication by two-digit numbers
3.15. Division by single-digit numbers
3.16. Exam proof sheets
3.17. Answer key
Bibliography
Who is the book for?
Fragments of the book
Review excerpts
‘In the introduction to their monograph, the authors refer to the well-known educational report from the last century, edited by Jacques Delors, “Edukacja. There is a hidden treasure in it.” They very aptly note that the soroban is just such an educational treasure. This beautiful and valuable reflection is the leitmotif of the monograph. The authors managed to discover – at least for the Polish reader – one of the educational treasures. Certainly, it became possible only thanks to the true passion of both Authors, and passion is the most important and necessary quality in the teaching profession. We know that a good teacher teaches by contagious passion, according to the aphorism from almost 2000 years ago by one of the greatest writers of ancient Greece, a historian, a philosopher-moralist – Plutarch of Chaeronea: “the mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire that must be kindled.” It seems that both authors accomplished this task not only in the form of their monograph, in which they encourage the reader to use the soroban and give them a taste for this thematic area, but also fulfill it in their daily didactic work.’
dr hab. Eng. Janusz Morbitzer, prof. call AWSB
Department of Pedagogy
AWSB in Dąbrowa Górnicza
‘The book was written in correct language, very clear and precise. It is good that the reviewed publication on soroban is published in Poland. It will certainly turn out to be very useful, showing the theoretical and practical aspects of working with the soroban – the Japanese abacus.
This book is intended for current and future soroban students.
I congratulate the authors on their courage to be the precursors of the Ishido method in Poland. After all, it is their pioneering publication that future potential researchers of the phenomenon and methods of working with the Japanese abacus will refer to.
I rate the reviewed publication very highly. I hope that its impact will be so significant that work with soroban will find its application in educational practice in Polish schools, especially in mathematical education.
Soroban book. Contexts. Theory. I recommend the practice for use during school and extracurricular educational activities.’
Dr. Tomasz Szwed
Institute for Educational Studies
PWSZ in Racibórz
‘Traditional school teaching of arithmetic is by nature a rather monotonous activity and generally does not arouse much enthusiasm among students. Proposed in the book Soroban. Contexts. Theory. Practice the way of writing numbers and operations on numbers is something new and changes thinking about arithmetic. It stimulates functional thinking about numbers in a very effective and clear way. Indicates a new entrance into the World of Numbers. The book is written in such simple and encouraging language that it should be in the hands of every math teacher in school and in every school library and reading room. It helps to understand that numbers are not just written on grid paper.’
prof. dr hab. Waclaw Zawadowski
mathematics teacher
Opinie czytelników
About the Authors
Karol Sieńkowski – member of the Soroban Foundation of Japan, certified trainer of the Ishido-Shiki method and examiner of the Soroban Foundation of Japan, founder of the Soroban Academy in Poland, member of the Association of Mathematics Teachers, teacher of natural subjects, precursor of the Ishido-Shiki method in Poland, author of books popularizing mathematics and soroban.
In the book The Soroban. Contexts. Theory. Practice is responsible for content directly related to the soroban. It introduces its history, pedagogical aspects, methodological issues and presents instruction on calculations on the Japanese abacus.
Albert Wołkiewicz – doctor of theological sciences in the field of catechetics, lecturer in didactics and catechetics (WSD of the Salesian Society in Krakow, WSD of the Bernardine Fathers in Kalwaria Zebrzydowska) and pedagogy (MWSE in Tarnów), expert in teacher promotion, researcher of educational media and scientific communication .
In the book The Soroban. Contexts. Theory. Practice raises the subject of tomorrow’s education and looks for a place for the soroban in it, introduces the reader to the invention of the “number” and discusses the structure of the modern education system in Japan.