For teachers: soroban homework that actually gets done at home
For teachers who set homework and find it never gets done.
Homework that gets done meets three conditions: it is short, it happens at the same time every day, and its results come back to the teacher. The working figures are ten minutes a day, five days a week, five problems per subject. What matters is not "did they do it" but "where did they go wrong", because that is what changes the first ten minutes of the next lesson.
Homework that dies vs homework that sticks
| Dies | Sticks | |
|---|---|---|
| Amount | Three sheets, 30 minutes | One sheet, 10 minutes |
| Timing | "By next lesson" | "Once a day, before dinner" |
| Content | Only the current level | 3 problems of last lesson's mistake type + 5 at the current level + 2 minutes of flash anzan |
| Return | Marked by the teacher next lesson (a week later) | Marked the same day; the *type* of error visible to the teacher |
| Parent's job | Explain, mark | Say "soroban time" at the agreed hour |
Amount: five problems per subject, ten minutes
The point of homework is to fill the five or six days between lessons. Ten minutes a day gets done five times a week: fifty minutes of spaced practice. Thirty minutes once a week does not stick; research on distributed practice consistently shows that repetitions separated by at least a day are retained far longer than the same work done in one sitting.
Content: last lesson's mistakes first
The first three problems should be the same type the child got wrong last lesson (5-complement, 10-complement, column shift). That is where the gain is. Current-level problems come after. Building this for twenty students by hand every week is not realistic, so keep pre-made bundles by error type, or use a tool that generates the next day's set from the recorded mistakes.
What to tell parents (template)
> Homework is ten minutes a day. You do not need to teach or explain anything; please just pick a time (before dinner works well) and say "soroban time". Mistakes are dealt with in class, so there is no need to mark it either.
Parents who explain introduce a second method and the child freezes between the two. Saying "no teaching, no marking" up front reduces the parent's load, which is what keeps homework going.
Getting results back: paper vs app
| Paper sheet | App | |
|---|---|---|
| Hand out | In class | From the teacher screen ("this week: 7th kyu mitori ร 3 sets") |
| Marking | Teacher or parent, next lesson | Automatic, same day |
| Error type | Teacher infers from the answer | Recorded: the most likely wrong bead move, worked out from the answer |
| Teacher's time | 20 students ร 1 sheet a week to mark | A list of students who need attention |
| Weakness | A week's delay; parents' marking is unreliable | Cannot see finger technique; needs a device |
Paper is fine for many schools. When marking stops keeping up, a teacher screen that distributes homework and marks it automatically (Soroban Kingdom's is one example) moves the first ten minutes of class from marking to fixing mistakes.
One condition of good soroban learning is that home and school are connected. Homework is the joint.
Frequently asked questions
What about families who never do it?
Cut the amount further: three problems, three minutes a day. After a month of "three a day", go to five. Most non-compliance comes from two things: too much, and no fixed time.
Should I ask parents to mark homework?
Better not. Marking accuracy varies between families and the error type disappears. Use automatic marking or mark in class.
From which level should homework start?
From the first level. Early homework can be "push five beads up and five down", three minutes. The habit of touching the soroban daily comes first; content follows.
You learn far faster by moving the beads than by reading. In Soroban Kingdom, levels 20โ16 are free forever with no sign-up, on any phone or computer.
โถ Open Soroban Kingdom