I don't think any educator would argue that mental computation is a dying skill. Quite the opposite in fact, it is an absolutely essential skill in day-to-day life. How though, can we rationalise it for our students? They so quickly default to using calculators (and to be fair, nearly always have access to them), that the simple efficiency of being able to calculate, say, simple percentages, without one, is becoming an increasingly hard sell. Mental computation seems to be turning into a novelty skill, a bit of a party trick.
How can we help our students to truly value mental computation?
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