Education Week reports:
For starters, many math reformers seem to disdain memorization in favor of cultivating “deeper understanding.” The prevailing belief in current math-reform circles is that drilling kills the soul and makes students hate math and that memorizing the facts obscures understanding. Memorization of multiplication facts and the drills to get there, for example, are thought to obscure the meaning of what multiplication is. Instead of memorizing, students are encouraged to reason their way to “fluently derive” answers. For example, students who do not know that 8×7 is 56 may find the answer by reasoning that if 8×6 is 48, then 8×7 is eight more than 48, or 56. (Ironically, the same people who believe no student should be made to memorize have no problem with students using calculators for multiplication facts.)
There's more:
Unfortunately, this approach ignores the fact that there are some things in math that need to be memorized and drilled, such as addition and multiplication facts. Repetitive practice lies at the heart of mastery of almost every discipline, and mathematics is no exception. No sensible person would suggest eliminating drills from sports, music, or dance. De-emphasize skill and memorization and you take away the child’s primary scaffold for understanding.
An article worth your time.
