Lesson 10: Setting numbers on an abacus
Level 1, Bead Village. Set numbers from the left. Then beat your best time!
What your child does, card by card
Set the number. Practice day! PlayBuddy opens the lesson: “Practice time. Let's get quicker and better.”
From the left: the abacus makes 352 and 357 by itself, a green ring on each bead just before it moves, and the hands copy. To change a number, move only the rods that change.
In Try it a green ring marks the next bead while your child makes 120 and 125, changing the beads from one number to the next.
Set them fast: a mission of 7 tasks with a clock against your child’s own best time. Your child must make 300, make 340, make 345, make 845, make 805, make 999 and clear the abacus.
In Copy me the drawn hand holds up 47, 85 and 19 in turn, and your child copies each one in beads.
In your head: the beads flash 26, 71 and 90, one at a time, for 1.5 seconds each and hide; your child shows each number on the drawn fingers, then sees the beads again.
You're ready! You set numbers from the left, and fast!
What this lesson trains
15 answers in about five minutes. The tasks take 27 bead moves in all: 11 with a top bead and 16 with bottom beads. 1 of them is a clear. Up to 999, read and set from the left. Then 3 quick looks in your head.
The first thing your child does: make 120 and 125.
Fingers and hands
Below the abacus the drawn hands show zero and 19, 47 and 85 here, finger for bead: the left hand counts the tens, the right hand the ones.
Above 99 the drawn hands rest, faded, because ten fingers stop at 99; the abacus keeps going.
The fingers lead in Copy me (47, 85 and 19); the beads answer.
What PlayBuddy and PlayType say
PlayBuddy: “Practice time. Let's get quicker and better.”
PlayBuddy: “Click Let's Begin, or press Enter!”
PlayType: “Now watch the beads closely.”
PlayType: “Can you beat your best? Go for three stars!”
Stars
With 1 or fewer slips across the 15 answers your child earns three stars; 3 or fewer, two.