Unleashing Intelligence
Albert Einstein, the world famous scientist and thinker, shocked the scientific community when he proposed the Theory of Relativity. By using the creativity and imagination of the right brain, he pictured out the interaction of time and space in his mind, and overcame the limitation of the three dimensions. At the same time, he also used deduction and logic of the left brain to prove and ascertain the scientific and mathematical value of his theories. Therefore when both left and right brains are combined and used effectively together, the results could be astonishing. When Einstein died, he donated his brain to scientists for research, and it was found that Einstein used only very low percentage of his brain potential. So how much of our brains are we using?

The human brain is divided into left and right brain. The left brain is the centre of logic, analysis and deduction. The right brain is the centre of creativity, holistic activities, and language. When we look around us and see numerous and varied user-friendly products, medical discoveries and many other technological wonders, we would have no doubt that they are made possible only by endless application of the combined powers of the human brain.

The brain cells of children normally grow rapidly from the age of four onwards and the growth will slow down at about age of twelve. At this point their brains would have reached 75% of size of an adult brain. Therefore, the age of four to 12 is the peak period of brain development. Parents are strongly advised to make full use of their young children's peak mental development by giving them the best of both left and right brains education to unleash the potential of their brain power.

In the U C MAS Abacus & Mental Arithmetic programme, the children will first learn how to use the abacus because beads are tangible objects. The children get to know numbers by touching the beads. In learning abacus arithmetic, children will start with understanding quantity and then associate it to the concept of number. Most child educators agree that children's education should start from tangible objects, before proceeding to conceptual learning. For example, when you draw the number 1 bigger than number 9, and ask a child which number is bigger, the child will definitely say it is 1, not 9. This is because he differentiates big or small from its tangible size and not by the conceptual amount.

Later, mental arithmetic will be taught when the children have mastered their abacus in handling addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Mental arithmetic is a method of calculation that is based on visualizing an imaginary abacus and its beads that was used during the abacus training level. This requires the creativity and the imagination of the right brain. When the abacus is visualized clearly in the children's minds, all addition, subtraction, multiplication and division of numbers could be made with the movement of fingers on the visualized beads of an imaginary abacus. This combination of touch, movement, visualization and numerical concepts ensures that the left and right brain cells would receive even more stimulation than conventional arithmetic learning.
By using an imaginary abacus, the numbers that are cognized by the left brain are immediately recognized by the right brain as visualized beads and movements, and so both brains would be used to calculate the answers at the same time. Therefore, the calculation of these children is amazingly quick and accurate.

More than Mental Arithmetic
Many people often assume that learning mental arithmetic is merely a method to improve the speed and accuracy of calculations, for example, adding 1 Q-digit numbers within a few seconds. By itself, it is already an amazing accomplishment. However, there is more to this because when the children are learning U C MAS Mental Arithmetic, they are actually also undergoing the process of developing other aspects of the mind. When the children have acquired an astonishing calculation speed, it shows their skills are actually only the end result of having developed the following mental abilities: - concentration, observation, visualization & imagination, memory, creativity, and thinking power.

Concentration
Concentration is the concentrated and directed attention towards a particular matter with clear reflection that creates a deep image and mental impression. An enhanced concentration leads to better absorption power. Studying will then be a joyful thing for these children. In the abacus and mental arithmetic education, children will be trained to concentrate when listening to the teachers' questions (that ranges from easy to difficult) and then focus on calculating the answers based on visualising an imaginary abacus and its beads as accurately as possible.

Observation
Observation is the ability to compare and analyse and differentiate objects, motives and steps. It is also a state of alertness and swiftness of the mind and senses. This comes from the need of students to understand the theoretical requirements of each calculation, the use of mental arithmetic flashcards and at the same time be aware of the time and promptings from the teachers.

Visualization and Imagination
By using the imagination of the right brain to visualize the abacus in mind, inevitably the powers of visualization would become sharp and clear. Einstein believes that the imagination is more important than knowledge, because imagination is the main source of yet-to-be-discovered knowledge.

Memory
Memory is the ability to store and retrieve information and experiences. It has been found that memory in the left brain would not stay long, but an image that is recorded in the right brain would stay on in mind forever. By stimulating the right brain with mental arithmetic, and in combination with the alertness of the eyes, ears and hands, the ability to store and recall is developed together.

Therefore, the ability to solve 10-digit calculation questions in only a few seconds is only a small success in comparison to the actual brain development that has been achieve during the training.

Article contributed by UCMAS Education Group