[ronnyquest]

"Professionals from office assistants to scientists use them on a daily basis, and the average person isn’t going to learn advanced functions by tinkering around with an instrument he or she has never touched before."

So, how did the average person learn to use "advanced functions" when calculators were new? Presumably, these people are adults who have already mastered basic math. How many "professionals" have gotten into paying positions without first having learned to use calculating devices? I must have dreamed getting through college physics courses without a calculator. I did learn, however, on my own to use all those advanced functions when I could afford to buy a fancy calculator, after college.

Children should not use calculators until they have mastered the basics. Calculators are a crutch. They can do nothing the human brain can't do, given time and expertise. Pencil and paper are the tools they need, and good instruction.

[Julia H.]

I will refer you to the second paragraph in my post, where I very clearly said I do not advocate using calculators as a crutch or an excuse not to learn basic arithmetic, and only once basic skills have been mastered should calculators be used to facilitate more advanced math. I don't see anything wrong with merely teaching kids how to use calculators. That's not the same as saying kids should be allowed to use them on their daily math assignments. Just because we want kids to be able to write by hand and memorize vocabulary doesn't mean we should ban word processors and dictionaries from classrooms.

[calex59]

Children should not use calculators until they have mastered the basics. Calculators are a crutch. They can do nothing the human brain can't do, given time and expertise. Pencil and paper are the tools they need, and good instruction.

Anyone who has had a young clerk try to count change and figure out a bill when the power goes off knows that the BS of teaching everything on Calculators does NOT teach math but teaches the use of calculators. I had a clerk ask me, just the other day, "how do you old guys do that?" when I told her what the total price would be and what my change would be(the power was down). She had no clue how to do math without a machine to do it for her and she had recently graduated HS.