How Mental Arithmetic Helps Improve a Child’s Memory and Thinking Speed

Today’s flow of information for a child resembles a waterfall: lessons, notifications, short videos, games — all demand attention at once. The brain becomes overloaded, new information is hard to retain, and memory sometimes simply “fails.”

The sequence of actions gets lost, and tasks that were simple yesterday seem difficult today. This is not about laziness or inattention — the brain needs systematic practice to handle the flow of information and process it faster.

How Mental Arithmetic Exercises Work

Mental arithmetic is built around various exercises, but the key tool is the abacus. Initially, the child moves real beads, and then transfers the counting process into their imagination. They hold numbers in their mind, rearrange them, visualize operations — while simultaneously training attention, logic, visual thinking, and memory.

Tasks gradually become more complex: number sequences grow longer, operations increase, and the child has to keep multiple elements in mind at once. This approach develops several skills simultaneously:

• Concentration and sustained attention
  
  
• Working memory capacity
  
  
• Speed of processing numerical and verbal information
  
  
• Ability to plan the sequence of actions
  
  
• Ability to visualize and mentally verbalize operations
  
  

The playful format and mini-competitions make the process engaging: the brain works actively but without stress, and the child learns to think faster, switch between tasks, and manage cognitive load naturally.

How the Brain Responds to Training

The brain can be imagined as a flexible network: when trained, it creates new connections and strengthens existing ones. Working with the abacus engages both hemispheres simultaneously: the left supports logic and calculation, the right — imagery and visualization. Using them together helps the child solve tasks faster and remember information better.

Children’s brains are particularly “plastic,” so the first changes are visible within a couple of months. Simple actions like addition and subtraction initially occur at a subconscious level, and then the brain progresses to more complex tasks. A child’s thinking speed gradually increases because the cognitive load is applied correctly and in measured amounts, while attention remains focused.

What Changes in Practice

After just two to three months, your child will become noticeably more attentive and focused. Compared to peers, they will learn new topics faster, concentrate more confidently and easily, and teachers at school will certainly appreciate their clear understanding of the material.

In fact, any regular practice reorganizes the brain’s functioning. With a balanced approach, children’s attention, memory, and imagination begin to “interact” cohesively. As a result, young learners retain and process information more effectively, switch between tasks more quickly, and make optimal decisions.

The natural outcome: boys and girls develop a truly “flexible mind.” What makes it special? It’s simple: your child gains the ability to think structurally, adapt to new situations, and solve tasks of varying complexity.