[Busman747]

Originally Posted by jambutty

[People are different and some have a flair for one subject whilst struggling in others but all have a grasp of simple arithmetic or they would have but for the teaching methods.[/SIZE]

Thank you jambutty, this was my point entirely, - and to SPUGGIE who said: "Reading this thread has made me realise how much we rely on gadgets to do something that the grey matter should do as a common act. What would happen if all this electronic guff went up the swanny one day how would we cope? We have become too relient on it to the point that things like maths written English (in a letter with proper spelling grammer etc) are dying out."

I just feel that the youth of today have been let down in that the education system, instead of training children to hold information in their head, move it about, - and come up with an answer, they instruct them to hit a few buttons and Hey-Presto, the answer is there! BUT WHAT IS WRONG WITH LETTING THE BRAIN EXERCISE ITSELF??

Modern day tills give the operator the amount of change to be given, scanners make the retail trade so much easier - - but does that guarentee that the customer gets the right change?

One of my daughters applied for a job as a croupier at Stanleys Casino. At school, she was "so-so" at mental arithmetic but after the interview, and before the second, she was given an insight as to what the job entailed. The mental arithmetic was frightening, 27x5 plus X and confidently give the answer in the time that it takes to think the question - - and we are talking pay-out money, so it CANNOT be wrong! I talked her through the "shortcuts" and she grasped the idea. She only remained there for 6 months, but in that time, got an offer to work in London for mega-money! She turned it down, but thats another story. I was reminded of this by another daughter (I have loads ) who frequently goes shopping with her, If they go shopping together and only have £40-00 to spend, she knows almost to the penny, how much the shopping will come to when they reach the till I am dead proud of her!! - - - but I digress, How many of todays youth can do the same? This is NOT intelligence, it is simply teaching them how to use their brain and to hold information for a second or two so that they can calculate, and go back to the original figure. THIS is what the schools should be teaching!