My elementary school was introducing algebra in 4th and 5th grade. Questions like "7 * ? = 21" aren't explicitly teaching algebra - student's aren't being taugh

My elementary school was introducing algebra in 4th and 5th grade. Questions like "7 * ? = 21" aren't explicitly teaching algebra - student's aren't being taught the multiplicative property of equality, they're just remembering their times tables - but it's laying the foundation.