[Gayle]

My 6 year old daughter is learning her multiplication tables at school so they do still do it.

I remember when I was at school and you used to get marks for showing how you'd worked out the answer even if you got the wrong answer - surely that system wasn't right either. I mean, I'd far rather have the correct change by someone using mechanical means than them saying to me that their long division looked good.

I enjoyed maths and was fairly decent at it but I did wonder what value it had in the real world. I think where the system is failing children these days is in 'worldly' skills - i.e. banking (yes, maths but making relevant) and politics.