The segment was called Human Calculators and Dawn French was absolutely blown away by their skills. The legendary comedian wasn’t the only one as commentators on social media were equally mesmerized by the skills of the students. The trick to their magic? Hard work and practice using the abacus mental arithmetic method taught by Supermaths. The abacus mental arithmetic method utilises an actual abacus at first with basic techniques such as addition and subtraction as the first stages. Then more complex equations with multiplication and division are added. Eventually, students stop using a physical abacus altogether and instead rely on a mental image of the ancient tool to solve the sums. That is where the hand movements in the video come from. The classes were the idea of Dr Rashmi Mantri, founder of Supermaths, who wanted to help her son Druv, who appears in the video above after she noticed him struggling with mental arithmetic. The abacus method was taught to her as a child in India where she grew up and proved very successful with her son as you can tell. You can see more of Dhruv in action by clicking here. For more information on the history of Supermaths,

About ITV’s “Little Big Shots” Little Big Shots shines the spotlight on some of the world’s most talented children. With no prizes at stake, no winners or losers and no competition, this programme is simply a showcase for three to thirteen year olds to take to the stage and show that you don’t have to be a grown-up to be a star performer. Brimming with charm, fun, enthusiasm and with skills that would put plenty of adults in the shade, the Little Big Shots may be small in stature but are guaranteed to be a tornado of talent.