Abacus, Kumon or Sakamoto? A Parent's Guide to Choosing

Sempoa, Kumon, jarimatika, Sakamoto — the four names that come up most often when parents look for a way to help their child with mathematics. All of them are promoted as a "method for learning mathematics", and that is the source of the confusion: in reality the four answer different problems.

This article compares them on one practical question: what is actually being trained, and which child does it make sense for. We do not sell any of these four methods, so we have no interest in declaring a winner.

Before Comparing: Identify the Problem First

This is the step most often skipped, and the one that matters most.

There are three different difficulties that all look like "my child is weak at maths":

1. The child is slow at calculating. They understand how, but need a long time and often slip up on the arithmetic step.
2. The child lacks persistence. They can do it when they want to, but never finish a set of exercises.
3. The child does not understand. They do not grasp why a formula works, so they memorise it today and forget it next week.

The four methods below target different problems from that list. Choosing without knowing the problem is the most common reason tutoring feels like it made no difference.

Sempoa

What the child does: calculates with an abacus, then gradually moves to picturing the tool in their head, until eventually they answer without either the tool or the mental image.

What it trains: speed and accuracy of calculation, along with working memory for numbers.

What to know: the scientific review by Chunjie Wang (2020, Frontiers in Neuroscience) concludes that the benefits of abacus training appear mainly in abilities directly adjacent to what was practised. For fluid intelligence, the effect "appears to not go beyond a placebo effect". So the benefit to calculation speed is real; claims of improved general intelligence are not established.

Also: reaching the mental-calculation stage takes years. Stopping partway means the main benefit never has time to appear.

Suits problem number 1. A full explanation is in our article about sempoa.

Kumon

What the child does: works through worksheets every day, at a level matched to their ability — not matched to their year group at school.

What it trains: persistence, independence, and the habit of daily practice.

What to know: the core of Kumon is self-directed learning. The official Kumon Indonesia site explains that when students meet new material, "the student studies the examples and uses previous material to try to work it out". Its level-placement principle: "Kumon ensures that students always study worksheets at the 'right' level".

This means the instructor observes and guides rather than explaining material at the front of a class. For some children that is precisely the advantage — they learn to work things out themselves. For a child who needs things explained, it can be an obstacle.

Another practical consequence: the starting level is often set below the child's year group at school, so they can work unaided without being taught. Some parents are surprised by this. It is not a mistake — it is the design.

Suits problem number 2.

Jarimatika

What the child does: calculates KaBaTaKu — multiplication, division, addition, subtraction — using their fingers, with particular movement patterns.

What it trains: basic calculation speed, without any additional equipment.

What to know: the method was developed by Septi Peni Wulandani and published through a series of books. Its greatest strength is accessibility — the equipment is your fingers, so there is nothing to buy and nothing that can be left at home.

Its limits are equally clear: jarimatika works on basic arithmetic operations. It is not designed for fractions, algebra, or word problems.

Suits problem number 1, in the early SD years.

Sakamoto

What the child does: unpacks word problems by turning them into a diagram or set of visual boxes, then translating that diagram into an equation.

What it trains: reading and understanding the problem — the part that most often costs Indonesian children marks in tests.

What to know: the method's official brochure states that Sakamoto "focuses more on developing a student's ability to understand the problem (be able to understand) rather than merely the ability to answer it (able to answer)".

Of the four methods, Sakamoto is the closest to conceptual understanding rather than speed. But its scope is specific — it handles word problems, not the whole mathematics curriculum.

Suits problem number 3, specifically for word problems.

Comparison Table

Three Mistakes That Happen Often

1. Adding calculation practice for a child who does not understand the concept

This is the most expensive one. If a child does not understand why fractions can be added, adding 200 more addition problems only makes them faster at something they do not understand. Their marks do not rise, and their confidence falls.

2. Expecting one method to solve everything

None of these four methods covers the school mathematics curriculum in full. Sempoa and jarimatika stop at arithmetic. Sakamoto handles word problems. Kumon is a practice system, not teaching. For SMP algebra or SMA trigonometry, none of them was designed for it.

3. Choosing on promises rather than on the problem

Promotional material in this category often contains figures with no source — percentage improvements in concentration or memory, for instance. Numbers with no study behind them are best treated as advertising. This applies to every provider, including us.

So Which Should You Choose?

In short, one line per case:

• The child understands but is slow → sempoa or jarimatika
• The child can do it but lacks persistence → Kumon
• The child can calculate but is lost on word problems → Sakamoto
• The child does not understand the material → maths tutoring with a teacher
• The child is already several chapters behind at school → maths tutoring, because gaps accumulate and cannot be closed with speed drills

Where Algonova Fits

We are the last row of the table. Algonova maths classes build conceptual understanding step by step with a teacher, in small groups and an online format. There are separate programmes for primary school children and for the SMP–SMA years.

So we are not a replacement for sempoa or Kumon — we answer a different problem. If your child's difficulty is purely calculation speed and the concepts are already solid, one of the methods above really is a better fit, and we will say so plainly.

The easiest way to find out what the real problem is, is a free 45-minute diagnostic class with a teacher: your child works through problems, and you see whether what is missing is understanding, speed, or persistence. There is no obligation to continue afterwards.

Sources: Wang, C. (2020). A Review of the Effects of Abacus Training on Cognitive Functions and Neural Systems in Humans. Frontiers in Neuroscience · Kumon Indonesia, halaman Metode Kumon · Brosur resmi Metode Sakamoto · Septi Peni Wulandani, seri buku Jarimatika.