It’s really frightening to me, and I’m 31! My younger brother, 3 years my junior, is totally dependent on his cell phone. When it chimes with a text message, he’s got it in his hand faster than he would pick it up if it rang. He’s got his “IT Drip.”
I asked my 9 year old cousin if he knew his multiplication tables yet, and his answer was a quizzical, “What are those?” I asked him if he knew what 5*4 or 11*5 were. He asked if I had a calculator. This was at 9.
When I went to McDonald’s last week to get something to nosh on the road, they’d lost power and were still bringing up their machines. They took my order, but they couldn’t plug it into their terminals. I gave them a $20 for an order somewhere in the neighborhood of $9.50. I got a $10 bill, a $1 bill, and $0.50. I gave him back the dollar and the clerk says, “Oh, you can just put that in the Ronald McDonald house.” I just shook my head and did exactly that.
My 8.5 year-old son (who is finishing 3rd grade next month) knows his multiplication facts cold. They give them old-fashioned flash cards for practice and test them weekly (more often earlier in the school year while they are still learning the tables). No calculators allowed at any grade level—this school goes up to 6th grade.
They have computers in the classroom (usually 3 or 4 per room) and SMART boards, but they still learn proper printing and cursive. They have library once a week where they also learn to do research and other useful things.
One of the most popular extracurricular activities is the Battle of the Books—it’s a statewide competition and each participant has to read a list of about 12-14 books. They form teams and compete by answering questions about the books. My daughter’s in her third year—it’s for 4th through 6th graders, and about 65 kids participate (that’s over half the students in those grades).
(Maybe the difference is that it’s a Catholic school w/test scores well above state and national averages and per pupil spending is low. Discipline is not only preached, but practiced, and responsibilities are taught from Kindergarten on up through sixth.)
“I gave him back the dollar and the clerk says, “Oh, you can just put that in the Ronald McDonald house.” I just shook my head and did exactly that.”
They probably thought you were giving him/her a tip!