It is, but there's a reason I teach my son addition like this: hundreds | tens | ones 1 2 3 + 2 1 5 ------------

It is, but there's a reason I teach my son addition like this: hundreds | tens | ones 1 2 3 + 2 1 5 ----------------------- 3 3 8 Rather than unoDOOOOS(third) {}{}{} [512354]_ = three"ate * replace {}{}{} with addition, {}{} is subtraction unless followed by three spaces in which case it's also addition * translate and correct any misspellings * [512354] look up in your tables * _ is 15 * dotted lines indicate repeated numbers Technically they're doing the same thing. One we would assume is harder to learn the fundamental concepts from.