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I can see what the textbook authors intended here, I think. There's not a whole lot of point to memorizing multiplication tables, it's much more useful to be ab

I can see what the textbook authors intended here, I think. There's not a whole lot of point to memorizing multiplication tables, it's much more useful to be able to work out arithmetic in your head. The way described here (going to multiples of ten and adding) is pretty close to the way I do it (going to prime factors and then multiplying back). Probably the authors wanted to teach what my grade school teachers called "mental math", which sounds like a worthy goal to me. What's impossible to tell without looking at the textbook is, are the parents resisting because they equate math with memorization, or because the textbook fails to teach "mental math"? The article is slanted a bit toward the latter, and I was looking forward to reading it and laughing at the dumb textbook writers along with it, but I'm not so sure. I love the picture on the article, also. The kid, sort of dopey and puzzled-looking, and the father, with the sad look on his face, far in the background, out of focus, powerless to help... It's perfect.

bokonist 19y ago
I mostly agree. I never did math the traditional paper and pencil way; I always used various short cuts to do mental math. Schools are leading kids down the wrong path teaching the traditional carrying-the-one approach. Nobody does that in real life. I do think though, that having command of the multiplication tables is extremely important, because it makes all future math so much easier.
- skittles 19y ago
  I think it's odd that most people aren't required to memorize simple sums. I still find myself adding some numbers by picturing dice and counting the dots. I have them memorized now, but old habits...
- randrews 19y ago
  There's probably some minimum that you need, like maybe multiplication up to 10x10, and squares up to 20 or 30. I like the idea (though not the name) of mental math. I think that if all you teach someone is multiplication tables and long division/multiplication, then they'll be as lost without a pencil and paper as someone who doesn't know the tables is without a calculator. I can see a case for learning mental math to solve small-number problems quickly, but really, anything I would want to do longhand, I (and most anyone else) would just use a calculator. Really why I think long multiplication/division became popular? It's easier to grade homework. If a student hands in just the answers, who can say whether they did it in their heads or with a calculator?
  - rkts 19y ago
    > why I think long multiplication/division became popular? It's easier to grade homework. No, it became popular because it used to be necessary. Math education (at all levels) is designed to teach 'how' rather than 'what' and this made sense when computation was something you had to do on paper. As to why it hasn't adapted, my guess is politics. There are too many people who lack any capacity for abstract reasoning but squeak through math classes by memorizing rules and procedures. These people naturally make a fuss when the rules and procedures are taken away and they start doing poorly.
tigerthink 19y ago
>There's not a whole lot of point to memorizing multiplication tables I disagree. Knowing the answer to a simple multiplication problem instantly will help when solving a more complex, multi-step algebra problem -- your concentration flows better. For example, imagine teaching a child to factor a second-degree polynomial. You probably wouldn't get very far if s/he was constantly having to enter numbers into a calculator.

bokonist 19y ago

I mostly agree. I never did math the traditional paper and pencil way; I always used various short cuts to do mental math. Schools are leading kids down the wrong path teaching the traditional carrying-the-one approach. Nobody does that in real life. I do think though, that having command of the multiplication tables is extremely important, because it makes all future math so much easier.

skittles 19y ago
I think it's odd that most people aren't required to memorize simple sums. I still find myself adding some numbers by picturing dice and counting the dots. I have them memorized now, but old habits...
randrews 19y ago
There's probably some minimum that you need, like maybe multiplication up to 10x10, and squares up to 20 or 30. I like the idea (though not the name) of mental math. I think that if all you teach someone is multiplication tables and long division/multiplication, then they'll be as lost without a pencil and paper as someone who doesn't know the tables is without a calculator. I can see a case for learning mental math to solve small-number problems quickly, but really, anything I would want to do longhand, I (and most anyone else) would just use a calculator. Really why I think long multiplication/division became popular? It's easier to grade homework. If a student hands in just the answers, who can say whether they did it in their heads or with a calculator?
- rkts 19y ago
  > why I think long multiplication/division became popular? It's easier to grade homework. No, it became popular because it used to be necessary. Math education (at all levels) is designed to teach 'how' rather than 'what' and this made sense when computation was something you had to do on paper. As to why it hasn't adapted, my guess is politics. There are too many people who lack any capacity for abstract reasoning but squeak through math classes by memorizing rules and procedures. These people naturally make a fuss when the rules and procedures are taken away and they start doing poorly.

tigerthink 19y ago

>There's not a whole lot of point to memorizing multiplication tables I disagree. Knowing the answer to a simple multiplication problem instantly will help when solving a more complex, multi-step algebra problem -- your concentration flows better. For example, imagine teaching a child to factor a second-degree polynomial. You probably wouldn't get very far if s/he was constantly having to enter numbers into a calculator.