Paul Titley
Our growing reliance on electronic calculation has led to the marginalisation of basic arithmetic skills. This challenges the way numeracy is both taught and learned. "Consequently, " the author says, "you and your children will need better methods and faster strategies for calculating - unless, that is, you are happy to literally take the change you are given!"Existing arithmetic methods are broken down and then re-assembled as a set of rapid mental strategies. These methods increase understanding and close the speed gap between human and electronic calculation.Be prepared then for creative thought and a thread of humour - as the author rails against chicanery and political interference in education. Titley refutes the claims of Right-wing propagandists that (your) kids are failures, and that exams are easy. "Of course, truth-resistant strains of ambitious runts in politics would seem to be inevitable," he concedes. "They are the political equivalent of herpes!""Arithmetic must be taught as part of a creative curriculum - not simply to get answers (which could be obtained by other means, albeit without any understanding)," he says. "Creativity is a vital engine of change in the future your children will inhabit."This book is an opportunity to change the way you do arithmetic and how you look at the world.
