alt Hacker NewsIdk about you but we weren't allowed to use calculators until long after we had already learned how to do whatever the calculator did by hand
Yes, I remember those days all too well. "You need to learn to perform long division by hand because you won't always have a calculator with you."
LOL, no.
It will play out pretty much the same way this time.
Replies
bigstrat2003 • today at 4:31 PM
I do, in fact, not always have a calculator on my person and sometimes need to do basic arithmetic by hand or in my head. The teachers who told us that were 100% correct.
➕ show 1 reply
Skipping to learn long division by hand because you'll always have a calculator (or better a smartphone at hand) is like going to a gym with a forklift. It is faster to lift the weights, but it kinda defeats the purpose.
Learning to do long division by hand trains the mind. It prepares you to understand polynomial division. It teaches you the deep connection of division and subtraction. So, mastering it should be part of the curriculum. As soon as it is truly mastered, it should be allowed to use a calculator.