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The BeadBop abacus curriculum

20 levels and 103 lessons that follow the classic soroban syllabus used by abacus schools worldwide — one bead formula at a time, then speed, then mental calculation. Each lesson unlocks the next, and every lesson earns up to three stars.

How long does it take? At 10–15 minutes a day, most children finish Levels 1–5 in about two months. The drills in Levels 11–20 are designed for repeated practice — that's where speed comes from.

🌱 Level 1: Meet the Abacus

8 lessons · 23 practice tasks

  • Hello, Soroban! — Parts of the abacus
  • Story of the Abacus — From sand to soroban
  • Magic Fingers — Thumb & index rules
  • Counting 1 to 4 — Earth beads
  • The Magic 5 — Heaven bead
  • Numbers 6 to 9 — 5 + earth beads
  • Tens Rod — Place value
  • Hundreds & Beyond — Big numbers

🌿 Level 2: Direct Add & Subtract

2 lessons · 8 practice tasks

  • Direct Addition — Just push beads up
  • Direct Subtraction — Just push beads down

🖐️ Level 3: Small Friends (5)

2 lessons · 9 practice tasks

  • Small Friends: Adding — Pairs that make 5
  • Small Friends: Subtracting — Reverse the trick

🔟 Level 4: Big Friends (10)

3 lessons · 12 practice tasks

  • Big Friends: Adding — Pairs that make 10
  • Big Friends: Subtracting — Borrow a ten
  • Mixed Friends — Both tricks together

🚀 Level 5: Master Skills

3 lessons · 9 practice tasks

  • Two-Digit Sums — Tens first, then ones
  • Multiplication — Repeated adding
  • Anzan — Mental Abacus — See it in your mind

🏔️ Level 6: Big Number Sums

3 lessons · 12 practice tasks

  • Three-Digit Adding — Hundreds, tens, ones
  • Three-Digit Subtracting — Borrow across rods
  • Thousands Club — Four-digit sums

✖️ Level 7: Times Tables

4 lessons · 16 practice tasks

  • Tables of 2, 5 & 10 — Skip counting
  • Tables of 3, 4 & 6 — Build the pattern
  • Tables of 7, 8 & 9 — The tricky ones
  • Two-Digit × One-Digit — Split and add

➗ Level 8: Division

3 lessons · 12 practice tasks

  • Sharing Equally — What division means
  • Division Facts — Use your tables
  • Bigger Division — Split the number

💰 Level 9: Money & Real Life

3 lessons · 9 practice tasks

  • Shopping Trip — Adding prices
  • Making Change — Subtracting money
  • Time & Measures — Minutes, metres, more

👑 Level 10: Anzan Champion

3 lessons · 10 practice tasks

  • Picture It — Mental beads
  • Long Chains — Keep the running total
  • Grand Champion — Everything together

🖐️ Level 11: Small Friends Drill

8 lessons · 48 practice tasks

  • +4 with a small friend — +4 = +5 − 1
  • +3 with a small friend — +3 = +5 − 2
  • +2 with a small friend — +2 = +5 − 3
  • +1 with a small friend — +1 = +5 − 4
  • −4 with a small friend — −4 = −5 + 1
  • −3 with a small friend — −3 = −5 + 2
  • −2 with a small friend — −2 = −5 + 3
  • −1 with a small friend — −1 = −5 + 4

➕ Level 12: Big Friends: Adding Drill

9 lessons · 54 practice tasks

  • +9 with a big friend — +9 = +10 − 1
  • +8 with a big friend — +8 = +10 − 2
  • +7 with a big friend — +7 = +10 − 3
  • +6 with a big friend — +6 = +10 − 4
  • +5 with a big friend — +5 = +10 − 5
  • +4 with a big friend — +4 = +10 − 6
  • +3 with a big friend — +3 = +10 − 7
  • +2 with a big friend — +2 = +10 − 8
  • +1 with a big friend — +1 = +10 − 9

➖ Level 13: Big Friends: Subtracting Drill

9 lessons · 54 practice tasks

  • −9 with a big friend — −9 = −10 + 1
  • −8 with a big friend — −8 = −10 + 2
  • −7 with a big friend — −7 = −10 + 3
  • −6 with a big friend — −6 = −10 + 4
  • −5 with a big friend — −5 = −10 + 5
  • −4 with a big friend — −4 = −10 + 6
  • −3 with a big friend — −3 = −10 + 7
  • −2 with a big friend — −2 = −10 + 8
  • −1 with a big friend — −1 = −10 + 9

🔀 Level 14: Combo Friends

8 lessons · 48 practice tasks

  • +6 with a combo (big + small) friend — +6 = +10 − 5 + 1
  • +7 with a combo (big + small) friend — +7 = +10 − 5 + 2
  • +8 with a combo (big + small) friend — +8 = +10 − 5 + 3
  • +9 with a combo (big + small) friend — +9 = +10 − 5 + 4
  • −6 with a combo (big + small) friend — −6 = −10 + 5 − 1
  • −7 with a combo (big + small) friend — −7 = −10 + 5 − 2
  • −8 with a combo (big + small) friend — −8 = −10 + 5 − 3
  • −9 with a combo (big + small) friend — −9 = −10 + 5 − 4

🔗 Level 15: Two-Digit Chains

6 lessons · 30 practice tasks

  • 3 rows of 2-digit — 3 rows · 2-digit
  • 3 rows of 2-digit — 3 rows · 2-digit · + and −
  • 4 rows of 2-digit — 4 rows · 2-digit · + and −
  • 5 rows of 2-digit — 5 rows · 2-digit · + and −
  • 6 rows of 2-digit — 6 rows · 2-digit · + and −
  • 8 rows of 2-digit — 8 rows · 2-digit · + and −

⛓️ Level 16: Three-Digit Chains

6 lessons · 30 practice tasks

  • 3 rows of 3-digit — 3 rows · 3-digit
  • 3 rows of 3-digit — 3 rows · 3-digit · + and −
  • 4 rows of 3-digit — 4 rows · 3-digit · + and −
  • 5 rows of 3-digit — 5 rows · 3-digit · + and −
  • 3 rows of 4-digit — 3 rows · 4-digit · + and −
  • 5 rows of 4-digit — 5 rows · 4-digit · + and −

✖️ Level 17: Multiplication Mastery

6 lessons · 32 practice tasks

  • The Soroban Way to Multiply — Digit by digit, left to right
  • Multiply: 2-digit × 1-digit — Split, multiply, add
  • Multiply: 3-digit × 1-digit — Split, multiply, add
  • Multiply: 4-digit × 1-digit — Split, multiply, add
  • Multiply: 2-digit × 2-digit — Split, multiply, add
  • Multiply: 3-digit × 2-digit — Split, multiply, add

➗ Level 18: Division Mastery

5 lessons · 25 practice tasks

  • Divide: 2-digit ÷ 1-digit — Split, divide, combine
  • Divide: 3-digit ÷ 1-digit — Split, divide, combine
  • Divide: 4-digit ÷ 1-digit — Split, divide, combine
  • Divide: 2-digit ÷ 2-digit — Split, divide, combine
  • Divide: 3-digit ÷ 2-digit — Split, divide, combine

🧠 Level 19: Mental Abacus

5 lessons · 25 practice tasks

  • Mental: 3 × 1-digit — 3 rows · 1-digit · + and −
  • Mental: 5 × 1-digit — 5 rows · 1-digit · + and −
  • Mental: 3 × 2-digit — 3 rows · 2-digit · + and −
  • Mental: 5 × 2-digit — 5 rows · 2-digit · + and −
  • Mental: 3 × 3-digit — 3 rows · 3-digit · + and −

🏆 Level 20: Grandmaster

7 lessons · 34 practice tasks

  • 10 rows of 2-digit — 10 rows · 2-digit · + and −
  • 5 rows of 4-digit — 5 rows · 4-digit · + and −
  • Negative Answers — When you take away too much
  • Multiply: 4-digit × 2-digit — Split, multiply, add
  • Divide: 5-digit ÷ 2-digit — Split, divide, combine
  • Mental: 5 × 3-digit — 5 rows · 3-digit · + and −
  • Mental: 8 × 2-digit — 8 rows · 2-digit · + and −

🪄 Mind Tricks: mental & Vedic maths

Alongside the abacus, BeadBop teaches 52 calculation tricks, each with a step-by-step worked example and unlimited practice. Read our Vedic maths guide.

🧠 Mental Maths Basics

Everyday shortcuts that make sums easy.

  • Number Bonds to 100
  • Add 9, 19, 99 by Rounding
  • Subtract 9, 19, 98 by Rounding
  • Double & Halve
  • Times 5
  • Times 4 and 8 by Doubling
  • Divide by 5
  • Times 9
  • Times 11 (Split & Add)
  • Times 25
  • Times 125
  • Times 101 and 1001
  • Divide by 25 and 125

🪷 Vedic Sūtras

Ancient Indian one-line formulas for lightning calculation.

  • Squares Ending in 5 — Ekādhikena Pūrveṇa — “by one more than the one before”
  • Same Tens, Ones Make 10 — Antyayordaśake’pi — “when the last digits add to 10”
  • Nikhilam: Times Tables Near 10 — Nikhilam — “all from 9 and the last from 10”
  • Nikhilam: Numbers Just Below 100 — Nikhilam — base 100
  • Nikhilam: Numbers Just Above 100 — Nikhilam — surplus over the base
  • Vertically & Crosswise — Ūrdhva-Tiryagbhyām — “vertically and crosswise”
  • All from 9, Last from 10 — Nikhilam Navataśćaramam Daśataḥ
  • Times 99 — Ekanyūnena Pūrveṇa — “by one less than the one before”
  • Squares Near 50 — Yāvadūnam — “whatever the difference”
  • Digit-Sum Check (Beejank) — Beejank — checking answers with digit sums
  • Divide by 9 (Nikhilam) — Nikhilam — division by 9
  • Divide by 8 and 7 (Nikhilam) — Nikhilam — division using the gap from 10
  • Divide by 11, 12, 13 (Paravartya) — Paravartya Yojayet — “transpose and apply”
  • Working Base 50 — Ānurūpyeṇa — “proportionately”
  • Nikhilam: Numbers Near 1000 — Nikhilam — base 1000
  • Square Any 2-Digit Number (Duplex) — Dwandwa Yoga — the duplex method
  • Times 11 for Big Numbers — Ūrdhva-Tiryagbhyām — special case of 11
  • Times 12 in One Line — Ūrdhva-Tiryagbhyām — special case of 12
  • Cube Roots in a Flash — Vilokanam — “by mere observation”
  • Square Roots of Perfect Squares — Vilokanam — “by mere observation”

⚡ Speed Tricks

Percentages, divisibility and more — like a maths magician.

  • Divisibility Detective
  • Percent Power
  • Teen Times Tables (11–19)
  • What Day in N Days?
  • Day of the Week for Any Date (2026)
  • Mirror Numbers (a+b)(a−b)
  • Last-Digit Detective
  • Fraction ↔ Percent Shortcuts
  • Add 1 to n in a Flash
  • Reversed-Digit Pairs
  • Same Tens Digit Multiply
  • Squares Ending in 1 or 9
  • Prime or Not?
  • Add Left to Right

🎓 Advanced Vedic (12+)

For confident learners: flag division, recurring decimals, cubes and more.

  • Flag Division (Dhvajāṅka) — Dhvajāṅka — the “flag” method
  • Recurring Decimals of 1/19, 1/29… — Ekādhikena Pūrveṇa — “by one more than the one before”
  • Cube Any 2-Digit Number — Ānurūpyeṇa — the cube pattern
  • 3-Digit × 3-Digit, Crosswise — Ūrdhva-Tiryagbhyām — 5 columns
  • Divisible by 7? The Osculator — Ekādhika — the osculator of 7 is 5

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