Good article. I'll have to show this to my son. He could do easy algebra equations when he was around seven but I think the ability to answer word problems using algebra was what he needed practice on and he is doing more of that this year, just with the little bit of easy algebra in his 8th grade workbook.
I told him that I want him to practice mental math and work on speed before he moves on to algebra. He complains about it and says things like "Mom, just because I walked out in the rain this morning does not make me Rain Man." But he does get faster with practice and he knows it and he feels good about it when he is timed on aaamath.com and he sees that he answered more questions in a certain amount of time than he did the last time he tried it.
I also told him that I became calculator dependent at an early age and I always admired people who were good at quick mental math. My mother was very good at this before she became ill and she didn't use calculators when she was in school.
I do let him use a calculator for some of his work now and I like that he tries to at least estimate the answer mentally before he uses the calculator. I think it helps him avoid mistakes.
