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.)
Well there ya go, Momma. You’ve found yourself a great school. Many of the elementary schools in my area are of passing grades, but the caliber of the child isn’t reinforced. Much of their curriculum is taught to a statewide standardized test. I’m just flummoxed at how kids can immediately default to a calculator without even trying to commit thought to the problem.
Same goes with my younger brother. He doesn’t know how to measure with a tape ruler down past quarter-inch. When I ask him to cut a board at 5/8”, he has to ask, “Is that before or after the half inch?” This is basic stuff to us, folks, and our kids are failing at it.