Whether this is really worth knowing in general, and at fourth grade in particular, depends on what each of us values. To me, for fourth grade, it would seem that this wouldn't rate high--not many 10-year-old children get summer jobs that require this skill. Certainly with the calls for more real mathematics for all students, we have to reconsider what levels of efficient computation are important, either mental or written.
Paul R. Trafton
Cedar Falls, IA
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May 5, 2000
The writer is a professor of mathematics at the University of Northern Iowa.