Being able to do mental arithmetic for small numbers is actually a very useful life skill. Sure, everyone has a calculator in their pocket these days (despite what my maths teacher told me), but that overhead of having to pull your phone out does slow you down.
But I don't believe that rote learning your times tables up to 12 is the way to do it. Mental arithmetic should be incorporated into the curriculum in a more integrated way. The problem is that school systems love testing and grading people. And it's quick and easy to grade people on their times tables by giving them a speed test to see how many equations they can complete in 5 minutes. You can say that little Jimbo is doing his times tables at a third grade level because he knows his 2, 3, 5 and 10 times tables. It's a terrible method of testing student progress though, I managed to get all the way to high school and was in the top stream class and never learned my times tables.
The actual concept of multiplication tables is an important concept for children to learn though, as it does help solidify fundamental mathematical concepts.
Being able to do mental arithmetic for small numbers is actually a very useful life skill. Sure, everyone has a calculator in their pocket these days (despite what my maths teacher told me), but that overhead of having to pull your phone out does slow you down.
But I don't believe that rote learning your times tables up to 12 is the way to do it. Mental arithmetic should be incorporated into the curriculum in a more integrated way. The problem is that school systems love testing and grading people. And it's quick and easy to grade people on their times tables by giving them a speed test to see how many equations they can complete in 5 minutes. You can say that little Jimbo is doing his times tables at a third grade level because he knows his 2, 3, 5 and 10 times tables. It's a terrible method of testing student progress though, I managed to get all the way to high school and was in the top stream class and never learned my times tables.
The actual concept of multiplication tables is an important concept for children to learn though, as it does help solidify fundamental mathematical concepts.