Eight new maths games exhume ancient method to educate children

GLASGOW-based British Youth International College (BYITC) have launched eight new online games to help children learn maths and English.

The games are rooted in the ancient abacus application, a counting tool that has been used for millennia.

The college specialises in teaching maths using this method and has launched the new games under their Supermaths brand.

The abacus is thought to have been first used by the Babylonians, an ancient Middle Eastern civilization, as early as 2,400 BC.

It is known to be highly effective at training the brain to make mathematical calculations involving huge numbers.

Supermaths is BYITC’s most popular teaching programme and offers a mix of weekly teacher-led abacus maths classes and online tutorials.

The aim of the games is to boost learning, engagement and sustained motivation in children.

The new games include Penguin Party Maths – a game for building maths skill; Number Nitro – to help children learn addition and subtraction through play – and Fish Frenzy Maths – a fun and effective way to practice arithmetic times tables.

The graphics and avatars in the games are inspired by computer games and include turtles, fish, footballers, penguins and cars.

The new game releases build on BYITC’s experience of delivering online abacus maths programmes called Abacus Supermaths.

They also developed the World’s first games-based abacus maths application.

BYITC now runs 10 franchises globally – including Dubai and Sri Lanka – and teaches online courses in English, programming and cyber security as well as maths for young people aged five to 17.

The new releases mean BYITC has now developed more than 20 of its own games in-house.

Dr Rashmi Mantri, who founded BYITC in 2015 after using an abacus to teach her son basic arithmetic, said “Making learning fun helps to engage children and helps them learn,

“We want to make learning accessible for all so that is why we have the option of a free trial so parents and children can give it a shot and see how much fun it is.

“We pioneered our web-based games learning approach to help young people learn maths.

“Now we’re bringing the same success formula to learning English.”

“The abacus is an ancient but brilliant tool that teaches students to do big calculations mentally without the use of any calculator or paper,”

“When my son Dhruv learned maths using an abacus, he could do mathematical calculations even faster than a calculator.”

Dr Mantri said: “Students can now create their own Supermaths accounts, which has enabled us to introduce an online leader board element with the latest batch of games,”

“This has been technically challenging, but is an added feature that increases competition and engagement with our learning games.”