Dunboyne seven year-old faster than speed of a calculator!
ALOHA Mental Arithmetic Ireland, for the second year running, will be welcoming back an award-winning student to their after-school classes this September.
Nataniel Timothy Sunil, aged just seven, has received the first runner up award in his category in the International Mental Arithmetic Competition at the Marco Polo Hotel, Foshan, China.
The event accommodated over 300 students aged five and over from sixteen countries worldwide. All students were challenged to solve 70 complex arithmetic calculations using the abacus or mentally through visualisation of the beads in less than five minutes.
Nathaniel, who lives in Dunboyne with his parents, Sunil and Sheeba, started to train his neurons two years ago by attending ALOHA Mental Arithmetic after-schools classes. He has demonstrated an exceptional ability to visualise the abacus and perform mental maths faster than the use of any calculator. Having previously received a first place award at ALOHA's Ireland's National Competitions in both 2018 and 2019, Nathaniel's parents decided this year was time for him to compete on the international stage. This was Nathaniel biggest challenge yet, competing against children up to three years older but it did not phase him as he proudly represented Ireland.
ALOHA Mental Arithmetic, an International Abacus Math network, celebrates its 25th anniversary this year. The programme operates in more than 40 countries with over four million students worldwide. It's a unique and effective Abacus method of teaching mental arithmetic which enables children to perform complex arithmetic operations without the use of calculator at breathtaking speed. Other benefits of the Aloha Arithmetic program are: improved attention and concentration, creativity, imagination, spatial orientation, listening skills, analytical ability, photographic memory and observation skills.
Director, Roxana Stan: "It is very exciting and encouraging to see that our students are representing Ireland in such a good manner making us so proud of their achievements for the second consecutive year. This is the result of hard work and effort considering the high standards of the Aloha Mental Arithmetic program and high level of difficulty in the competitions. I wish to thank Nataniel, his parents, and the Aloha Mental Arithmetic Ireland staff for their hard work and for making Ireland proud once again."
ALOHA Mental Arithmetic new term of after-school classes begins in September with the nationwide expansion of the programme planned throughout the next 12 months.