[rdcbn]

In 7th grade we were “encouraged” to rote memorize the squares of numbers up to 30. Knowing this also allowed you to roughly estimate the square root of numbers via interpolation

Still use this even in the days of cell phone calculators and teraflop desk top computers

[hanamizu]

In 7th grade we were “encouraged” to rote memorize the squares of numbers up to 30.

---

Yes and in 3rd grade I was “encouraged” to memorize my times tables up to 10 x 10. I have taught 8th graders who don’t have their 6 tables in their heads. I only sub now, but I try to impress upon them how much easier math is if they can do multiplications in their heads without having to think about it. But it’s not the way it is done now.

The fact is, I got a better education in the 50s by teachers who were trained in the 30s and 40s than kids are getting today.