[Vince Ferrer]

I agree with many responders that the algorithms should be taught, especially in order to teach children to learn. We have a truly mind boggling amount of "facts" available throught the internet, but we are losing the ability to think logically and methodically.

We are becoming so mentally lazy that we call 911 when we get lost in a corn maze, rather than thinking and figuring a way out of the problem.

[susannah59]

I think calculators and computers are being used far too early in school.

I had a very poor math education, hated math, and was never good at it. I still am not a "numbers" person.

I taught at a community college for a couple of years. The area I taught in occasionally involved some fairly basic math. It was scary to see that I could do certain mathematical things in my head better than some students could do with calculators.

I agree with something others have mentioned: the answer must be right if the calculator says so. They aren't thinking. Plug in some numbers, pull out other numbers, go on to the next problem. That is not a good thing! Young folks aren't being encouraged to learn to think and reason and I find it frightening.