Comment Re:Not as important as bringing back flashcards (Score 1) 245
Generally, at least I think, forcing kids to memorize a bunch of things at a young age is better for them in the future. Even if they don't 100% understand why, once they move up to high school and have to start thinking (aka book reports, algebra, etc), they don't have to go back to using fingers or manually doing multiplications. Sometimes you get that "ah hah" moment when you realize you have all that information already in your noggin and can apply it.
Of course you also end up with kids who skip a grade or move to a different school it throws it all to wack. I got experience in that front.