"Martin" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 27 Jan 2011 08:01:19 +0000 (GMT), wrote:

In article ,
Martin wrote:
On Wed, 26 Jan 2011 22:57:05 +0000, Sacha wrote:
On 2011-01-26 16:40:08 +0000, kay said:

But I think learning times tables by rote up to 12 x 12 is the wrong
place to start!

Worked and continues to work, for me.

The difference between our generation and the young ones, is that we can
do
mental arithmetic. Tables are part of the basic tools needed to do this.
Not necessarily. I didn't rely on them and still don't. When my
elder daughter had trouble with her tables, I taught her the methods
I used and said that I didn't give a damn how she got the answer,
provided that she got the right one in under a second. She did,
and got a first-class engineering degree.

There's more than one way to kill a cat.

Nick says people can use a calculator, but I have yet to see anybody
doing this
in a supermarket, for example. Our two kids did arithmetic using a
calculator
at school. I don't think they even own one nowadays.

If you can't learn tables and can't learn the mathematical tricks,
then any sane person would buy one.

In the 1970s I saw people using slide rules in Californian supermarkets.
There
was a slide rule in the cutlery drawer in a house I rented.

Supermarkets are full of the insane.
I still see people buying Guinness Draft in 10 packs although the unit
price
for a 10 pack is more than the unit price for a 4 pack. In Morrisons the
10
packs were on sale in a different row to the individual cans. In one Co-op
they
were on sale immediately below the individual cans. The unit price is
provided
in both supermarkets.
http://www.tesco.com/groceries/produ...rchBox=Guiness
ATM in Tesco's a Guinness Draft 10 pack has a unit price of GBP3.07 a
Guinness
Draft 4 pack has a unit price of GBP2.90

Tell us about your tricks, Nick? I am sick of supermarket tricks :-)
--

Martin


My Whiskey was cheaper per Litre in the smaller 70cl bottles than the Litre
bottle.

Choc Digestive Biscuits were cheaper per pack than the twin pack of the same
thing.

Sprouts were cheaper loose than the packs

Mike
Of Jewish descent with short arms and deep pockets

--

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Don't take life too seriously, you'll never get out alive
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