Should Calculators Be Used In Elementary School?

As a secondary math teacher, this question comes up quit often. A buddy of mine brought this up to me the other day, calculators are a great tool in mathematics and when used correctly they serve many purposes, especially in higher level mathematics. The use of them at the elementary level concerns me. This might vary from district and state, but I feel that calculators are too widely used at such a young age. I know part of the purpose of this is due to the curriculum that must be taught at a younger age. However, when it comes to simple arithmetic such as adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing, calculators should not even be on the student’s mind. It is sad when I have students in the high school that do not know there multiplication tables. They have such poor number sense and computational skills. I was not allowed to use a calculator until at least seventh or eighth grade, and this was just a basic scientific calculator. In fourth, fifth, and sixth grade we were made to memorize our multiplication tables. I feel education today frowns on making students memorize. Learning should be about exploring concepts, not memorization. I disagree and I believe there are some things that just need to be memorized and become second nature. This starts with simple arithmetic. Don’t get me wrong, the concepts of adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing are very important in developing number sense and computation skills. The students, however, are not going to be able to do this by pushing buttons. Even at the high school level, I deny students the use of calculators on some topics. Unfortunately, I cannot say to them, “As you get older, you will not always carry a calculator around with you.” This is false because everyone today owns a cell phone and therefore will have a calculator on them. I feel this is the wrong way to look at the situation. Just because the technology is available to us now, such as cell phones and computers in the work place, does not mean these students should not learn basic mathematical skills. Students should not rely on a calculator or a computer to do basic math for them.