This is interesting! Japanese methods of teaching children

In Moscow, Elena Kleshcheva told Letidor what mental arithmetic is and why every person needs it.

Mental arithmetic is a program for the comprehensive development of children's intelligence and thinking, based on the formation of the skill of rapid mental calculation

During classes, children learn to count quickly using a special counting board (abacus, soroban). Teachers explain how to correctly move knuckles on knitting needles so that kids can almost instantly get an answer to a complex example. Gradually, the attachment to the abacus weakens and the children imagine the actions they performed with the abacus in their minds.

The program is designed for 2-2.5 years. First, the children master addition and subtraction, then multiplication and division. A skill is acquired and developed through repeated repetition of the same actions. The method is suitable for almost all children, the teaching principle is from simple to complex.

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Classes take place once or twice a week and last one to two hours.

The ancient abacus abacus, which children use to count, has been known for more than 2.5 thousand years. Children learn to count using special abacus. It is known that they were used in Ancient Rome. IN modern world Counting on the abacus is common in Japan, China, India, Malaysia, and other countries.

In Japan, abacus counting is included in the official school curriculum.

For more than 50 years, mental arithmetic has been part of the public education system in Japan. It is interesting that after finishing school people continue to improve their mental arithmetic skills. In the Country rising sun mental arithmetic is considered something like a sport. There are even competitions held on it. In Russia, international tournaments in Mental Arithmetic are now also held annually.

Mental arithmetic develops mechanical and photographic memory

When children count, they use both sides of their brain at once. Mental arithmetic develops photographic and mechanical memory, imagination, observation, and improves concentration.

The general level of intelligence increases. This means that it is easier for children to absorb large amounts of information in a short time. Successes are immediately visible foreign languages. Now you don’t have to spend the whole day memorizing poetry and prose.

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Slower students have faster reaction times.

There are also unexpected results. One day a boy came to the center and played tennis. The mother said that her son has problems with coordination of movements. Unexpectedly, they were solved precisely through intensive mental arithmetic courses.

Mental arithmetic is more difficult for adults; the optimal age for starting classes is 5-14 years

You can develop your brain using mental arithmetic at any age, but best results can be achieved up to 12–14 years. The children's brain is very plastic and mobile. At a young age, neural connections are most actively formed, which is why our program is easier for children under 14 years of age.

The older a person is, the more difficult it is for him to abstract from his experience and knowledge and simply trust the abacus. I mastered this technique at the age of 45 and constantly doubted whether I was doing it right or whether there was a mistake. This greatly interferes with learning.

But the more difficult it is for a person to master this account, the more useful it is.

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It’s as if a person overcomes himself, and every time he does it better and better.

The classes are not in vain; the brain of an adult is also actively developing.

Just don’t expect the same results from an adult as from a child. We can learn the technique, but we won’t be able to count as quickly as a second grader does. As experience shows, the optimal age at which it is better to start classes is 6 and 7 years.

The best results are achieved by those who regularly exercise at home.

A prerequisite for classes is daily training on the abacus. Just 10-15 minutes. Children need to practice the formula that the teacher gave them in class and bring their actions to automaticity. Only in this case will the child learn to count quickly. The organizational role of parents, who need to monitor regular training, is important here.

In 1954 Once upon a time there lived a mathematics teacher, Toru Kumon, in Japan, and one day his son Takeshi brought home a bad grade in arithmetic. Mr.Kumon was not at a loss and began to give his son simple addition tasks every day, which fit on one piece of paper. Soon Takeshi became the best in the class, and the parents of his classmates took their children to classes with his father.

...60 years have passed. Now KUMON training centers are located in almost 50 countries around the world. More than 4 million children study there using special workbooks.

Toru Kumon

We talked about how this method of child development works with Anastasia Kreneva, the head of the children's department at Mann, Ivanov and Ferber.

Anastasia Kreneva

- What is KUMON and what are their “tricks”?

- I heard that the Japanese even think about the thickness of paper for children. Is that so?

Yes, they thought of everything possible. Notebooks for children 2 years old - small format; notebooks for older children - large. The thickness of the paper is also different. For example, in notebooks for children the most thick paper. How older child, the thinner the paper. Everything is done to make it comfortable for the child to write.

At 2 years old, it is still difficult for him to hold a pencil and draw a line, so he presses hard on the paper. If the paper is thin, it will tear, and this will upset the baby. There will be no satisfaction from the completed task. And next time he won’t want to study.

Another example of thoughtfulness, and far from obvious, is in the illustrations for the assignments. At the beginning of the notebook, the tasks are very simple, and the illustrations for them are bright, with many details. The child perceives it all as a game and immerses himself in it. The further you go, the more difficult the tasks become. And the picture becomes less saturated and colorful. Why? This is also very simple: the more difficult the task, the more the child needs to concentrate. Nothing should distract him.

- So the reason for the popularity of KUMON is that everything is very thought out there?

Yes, but not only. It’s also about the emotions of parents who see the real result. The child did not know how, for example, to hold a pencil or use scissors. He did 40 exercises - and now he can do it perfectly.

But how can a child cut out a circle or square for an applique if he doesn’t yet know how to cut paper? In KUMON, everything is sequential: first we learn to make simple cuts, short, along thick lines, then the lines become thinner and longer, angles, arcs, waves appear, and only then circles and lines of complex shapes.

Another trick is that in cutting books the child doesn’t just cut out - at the end he gets some kind of toy that he can then play with. For example, some kind of snake that he cut out in a spiral. Or, for example, you cut out a blanket and cover the drawn girl with this blanket.

- What types of educational notebooks are there in Russia?

Educational children's notebooks can be divided into two types. The first is comprehensive development notebooks. These are general developers. Here, within the framework of one notebook or series, everything can be: mathematics for kids (shapes, opposites, correspondence, etc.), and general development speeches (groups of words by topic), and creative tasks (finish drawing, making, gluing). The child develops, learns new things, of course. But the process is completely different, this intellectual development. Such notebooks do not “stretch your hand” and do not teach you exactly how to cut out, as KUMON does.

Or, for example, notebooks with stickers are quite popular now. They are wonderful and interesting in their own way. The tasks here are also for general development and, in parallel, for the development of fine motor skills. That is, usually you first need to think, decide what and where to glue, and only then glue.

In similar KUMON notebooks you just need to glue it. That's all. Complete concentration only on this task. For example, an apple with an empty circle will be drawn there. And the child must carefully paste a round sticker into this white circle. The point is not for him to know that it is an apple and that it is green. Or for him to find out how big “big” differs from “small”. From the beginning to the end of the notebook, he is taught to place stickers and paper on paper. The main thing is that by the end of the lesson he does it perfectly!

- It's clear. What is the second type of notebook?

Working in such a notebook, the child does not even understand that he is doing mathematics; there are very few numbers there. Zhenya, by the way, believes that before the age of 5 you shouldn’t torment a child with numbers. He, of course, will remember what they look like, but at 2-3-4 years old he does not understand what exactly this number means. He has not yet developed mathematical thinking.

- It turns out that no one teaches us basic skills?

It turns out that it is so. They don’t teach purposefully, they teach indirectly. An exception is the topic of preparing the hand for writing. Many publishers have such notebooks. True, again, most of them are built on the principle of “circle the shaded lines and continue on your own.”

From the Japanese point of view, such tasks do not make much sense. For example, a 2-3 year old child is asked to trace and draw the teeth on a comb. But how can a child draw them? Where to put the pencil? Where to stay? A 2-3 year old child does not understand this yet.

The child needs these hints so that he understands where to put the pencil and where to stop. The child first thinks through the route, and then he consciously draws a line along a blank sheet of paper to where he needs to go. It is this skill that will help him write and draw later.

- And the last thing. What basic principle of education do the Japanese have that it would be nice for us to adopt?

The Japanese very much ask parents not to interfere in what the child is doing. What is the problem with many of our mothers? For example, a child begins to draw a line and does not succeed. Mom immediately snatches his hand away and says: “Wait, you’re doing it all wrong!” This is the wrong message. Even if the child hasn’t done anything at all, he definitely needs to be praised. At least for the fact that he tried.

You can choose a KUMON notebook for your child

Ecology of life. Children: The whole world knows that Japanese children are smart, diligent, responsible and in many ways ahead of their peers from other countries...

The whole world knows that Japanese children are smart, diligent, responsible and in many ways ahead of their peers from other countries. The natural question is: why? Than the system Japanese upbringing different from ours?

It's all about a special approach to learning. Japanese children practice Kumon method, developed by math teacher Toru Kumon for his son. Today, children from 2 to 17 years old study in 47 countries around the world using this method. In Japan, studying at the Kumon school is considered a start in life and guarantees a successful career. In Russia and the CIS countries, this technique appeared two years ago and has already won the love of parents and the professional teaching community.

In such schools, children are taught using special notebooks that help them master a variety of skills: reading, counting, writing, drawing, logic, and so on.

Simple Kumon Principles

School prepares for exams, and Kumon prepares for life - this is the motto of the famous method. It is based on several simple but very effective principles.

From simple to complex

All tasks in Kumon notebooks increase in complexity gradually - each task is a little more difficult than the previous one. But the secret to success is that the child does not move on to the next type of task until he has mastered the current topic or skill.

For example, a preschooler, when mastering the skill of cutting, first cuts along straight lines, then along curved, wavy, zigzag and circular lines. By the end of the notebook, he is already a master of scissors.

Individual approach

Kumon notebooks come in different difficulty levels. That is, each notebook is selected individually for each child, depending on what he can currently do, and not on age. And from this starting point you should begin your studies. Only then will the child be able to master all the topics, and there will be no gaps in his knowledge.

Understand everything from “a” to “z”

Classes using the Kumon method involve the same type of repetitive tasks. The child must perform one or another task until he completely masters the skill. Classes take no more than 20 minutes a day, so your child will not get tired and lose motivation to study.

The secret to perfection is practice

Kumon notebooks involve daily practice. Thanks to this, the baby not only learns to count and write, but also becomes disciplined, diligent, independent and responsible.

Reward as a way of motivation

According to the Toru Kumon method, it is customary for children to be praised and rewarded for every success, even the smallest. All notebooks contain special certificates that are awarded to the child, as well as others. Toru Kumon advised parents to praise their child as often as possible and never scold him for mistakes. This is how motivation to study is formed.

In 1954, there lived a mathematics teacher, Toru Kumon, in Japan, and one day his son Takeshi brought home a bad grade in arithmetic. Mr. Kumon was not at a loss and began to give his son simple addition tasks every day that fit on one piece of paper. Soon Takeshi became the best in the class, and the parents of his classmates took their children to classes with his father.

60 years have passed. Now KUMON training centers are located in almost 50 countries around the world. More than 4 million children study there using special workbooks.

In Russia, notebooks from the KUMON center are published by the publishing house Mann, Ivanov and Ferber. We talked with the head of the children's direction “MYTH.Childhood” Anastasia Kreneva about how the Japanese method of child development differs from the Russian one; what and how KUMON notebooks teach and what other educational aids for children are available in Russia.

– What is KUMON and what are their “tricks”?

– KUMON is a Japanese method of developing skills that should usually be developed in a child before school. At KUMON centers they teach how to hold a pencil, draw lines, cut, glue, count, and write numbers and letters.

In total, in the series that we publish, there are more than 50 workbooks - each for a specific skill and age. The notebooks contain 40 tasks, and they are designed for a month or two of lessons. The main thing is to practice every day, consistently and little by little. This is very important. The key principle of the entire technique is consistent complication. The simplest thing is always first, then more and more difficult. This is what distinguishes them from most domestic publications.

So, for example, you can often find this: you open a notebook to prepare your hand for writing, and one of the first tasks there is to circle a flower or a sun along a dotted line. And the question immediately arises: how can a 2-year-old child, who still doesn’t even know how to properly hold a pencil, do this? This is difficult - you need to draw a circle and straight lines going under different angles. Not every adult can handle it well. It's different at KUMON. It all starts with very, very simple things. First, the child learns to draw a short line, in the next task the line lengthens, then one bend appears, then several, etc. That is, according to the logic of the Japanese, the task with the sun would be at the very end of the notebook...

Another feature is that KUMON is not only a mechanical training of a skill. These notebooks teach the child to be independent. Parental participation here is reduced to zero. Thanks to the illustrations and page design, all tasks are intuitive for the child. He opens the notebook and does everything himself, without prompting. Plus, the Japanese constantly repeat to parents that children must be praised. When you praise children, it increases their self-esteem, they begin to believe in their abilities, and the activities themselves only make them feel better. positive emotions. They themselves want to exercise every day. And this is very important - because this is how the child also develops a useful habit of studying.

– I heard that the Japanese even think about the thickness of paper for children. Is that so?

– Yes, they thought of everything possible. Notebooks for children 2 years old - small format; notebooks for older children - big ones. The thickness of the paper is also different. For example, notebooks for children use the thickest paper. The older the child, the thinner the paper. Everything is done to make it comfortable for the child to write. At 2 years old, it is still difficult for him to hold a pencil and draw a line, so he presses hard on the paper. If the paper is thin, it will tear, and this will upset the baby. There will be no satisfaction from the completed task. And next time he won’t want to study.

– So the reason for the popularity of KUMON is that everything is very thought out there?

– Yes, but not only. It’s also about the emotions of parents who see the real result. The child did not know how, for example, to hold a pencil or use scissors. He did 40 exercises - and now he can do it perfectly.

By the way, we made a discovery for ourselves. It turned out that our children have problems with cutting. The most popular notebook in the entire series is “Learning to Cut.” In principle, there is an explanation for this. Analogs that are offered on the market today are notebooks with applications. But how can a child cut out a circle or square for an applique if he doesn’t yet know how to cut paper? In KUMON, everything is sequential: first we learn to make simple cuts, short, along thick lines, then the lines become thinner and longer, angles, arcs, waves appear, and only then circles and lines of complex shapes.

Another trick is that in cutting books the child doesn’t just cut out, but at the end he gets some kind of toy that he can then play with. For example, some kind of snake that he cut out in a spiral. Or, for example, you cut out a blanket and cover the drawn girl with this blanket.

– What types of developmental notebooks are there in Russia?

– Developmental children's notebooks can be divided into two types. The first is comprehensive development notebooks. These are general developers. Here, within the framework of one notebook or series, everything can be: mathematics for kids (shapes, opposites, correspondences, etc.), and general speech development (groups of words by topic), and creative tasks (finish drawing, making, gluing). The child develops, learns new things, of course. But the process is completely different, this is intellectual development. Such notebooks do not “stretch your hand” and do not teach you exactly how to cut out, as KUMON does.

- It's clear. What is the second type of notebook?

The second type of notebooks is focused specifically on mathematics, like Lyudmila Peterson’s manuals for preschoolers. Or, for example, Zhenya Katz has interesting notebooks for the development of mathematical thinking. There are all sorts of puzzles, game tasks for logic and attentiveness. Working in such a notebook, the child does not even understand that he is doing mathematics; there are very few numbers there. Zhenya, by the way, believes that before the age of 5 you shouldn’t torment a child with numbers. He, of course, will remember what they look like, but at 2-3-4 years old he does not understand what exactly this number means. He has not yet developed mathematical thinking.

– It turns out that no one teaches us basic skills?

It turns out that it is so. They don’t teach purposefully, they teach indirectly. The exception is the topic of preparing the hand for writing. Many publishers have such notebooks. True, again, most of them are built on the principle of “circle the shaded lines and continue on your own.”

Yes, this is, of course, a mechanical exercise. But this way the child will never learn to draw lines consciously. If we take a similar KUMON notebook, we will see that each task will be a labyrinth - from very simple (like a straight tunnel) to complex. In a labyrinth, its beginning and end are always marked. The child needs these hints so that he understands where to put the pencil and where to stop. The child first thinks through the route, and then he consciously draws a line along a blank sheet of paper to where he needs to go. It is this skill that will help him write and draw later.

– And the last thing. What basic principle of education do the Japanese have that it would be nice for us to adopt?

– The Japanese really ask parents not to interfere in what the child is doing. What is the problem with many of our mothers? For example, a child begins to draw a line and does not succeed. Mom immediately snatches his hand away and says: “Wait, you’re doing it all wrong!” This is the wrong message. Even if the child hasn’t done anything at all, he definitely needs to be praised. At least for the fact that he tried.

Nations that use hieroglyphs have a different type of thinking. Does it affect their lives? It's hard to say. Such people are visual by nature, they perceive figuratively the world around us. And this system of perception does not bypass even the exact sciences. It will be interesting for everyone to know how the Japanese multiply. Firstly, you don’t have to frantically search for a calculator, and secondly, this is a very exciting activity.

Let's draw

It's amazing, but Japanese children can multiply even without knowing the multiplication table. How do the Japanese multiply? They do it very simply, so simply that they use only basic drawing and counting skills. It’s easier to show with an example how this happens.

Let's say you need to multiply 123 by 321. First you need to draw one, two and three parallel lines that will be placed diagonally from the upper left corner to the lower right. On the created groups of parallels, draw three, two and one line, respectively. They will also be placed diagonally from the bottom left to the top right.

As a result, we get a so-called rhombus (as in the figure above). If anyone hasn't figured it out yet, the number of lines in a group depends on the numbers that need to be multiplied.

We count

So how do the Japanese multiply numbers? The next stage is counting the intersection points. First, we separate with a semicircle the intersection of three lines with one and count the number of points. We write the resulting number under the diamond. Then, in exactly the same way, we separate the areas where two lines intersect with three and one. We also count the points of contact and write them down, then we count the points that remain in the center. You should get a result similar to the figure below.

It is worth paying attention to the fact that if the central number is two-digit, then the first digit must be added to the number that was obtained when counting the points of contact in the area to the left of the center. Thus multiplying 123 by 321, we get 39,483.

This method can be used to multiply both two-digit and three-digit numbers. One problem is that if you have to count numbers like 999, 888, 777, etc., you will need to draw a lot of lines.