Calculator in elementary grades?

There is controversy over how much elementary school kids should be allowed to use the calculator. Some say it's a no-no altogether, some think it should be used almost all the time - and some think it should be balanced.

In my opinion, one should severely restrict the calculator use in early grades - until the student has mastered the basic math facts and can quickly do basic mental calculations. Until then, calculator should be used only for some special projects or illustrations.

Why? Because not knowing those facts by heart is a big hindrance when learning fractions, factoring, etc. And because it helps children develop NUMBER SENSE - to be familiar with our number system.

Also kids need to learn to do multiplication and long division by hand - it is needed later when those same procedures are used in algebra.

Read more at this link: Using calculator in elementary math teaching.

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