Reply To: Lesson 4-2: Automaticity vs. Memorization

[Gregory Napoleon]

This is such a big discussion that has been had over and over again. I teach 5th grade and my thoughts on this have changed over the years.

I do agree that students need to know their basic facts. However, my view on that has changed. I use to be the automatic you need to know this and above all else DON”T USE YOUR FINGERS. After many different trainings, including these, I am much more in favor of teaching automaticity. Students still come up with the answer, but I feel that this way they better understand how they got to the answer. It’s kind of like the challenge of Old School vs. New School thinking.