I didn't say anything about stopping drilling in general, just that I think long division is at this point merely a historical curiosity. I totally agree that

I didn't say anything about stopping drilling in general, just that I think long division is at this point merely a historical curiosity. I totally agree that the number sense from drilling fundamentals at school is essential for higher maths. Addition, subtraction, multiplication, fractions, powers, etc. are all very important, as are intuitions about them that only come from practice. Fractions are something many first year university students are incredibly weak at - I've seen the same things you have.