The NCTM clearly asserts that children need to master all these methods if they are to understand and use mathematics. In concluding that children of all ages should be proficient with calculators, the NCTM did not intend to rule out other ways of solving problems. Children do need to learn to figure in their heads and to do paper and pencil work, but these methods alone will not meet contemporary needs. Aversion to using calculators in schools contrasts with their general acceptance in the work place and the daily life of adults. If schools do not teach students to use these devices from an early age, the rising generation will lack necessary work skills.
Calculators are one tool almost every employer expects employees to use.
Calculators are ubiquitous in the work world and as important for employees as voice mail and word processing. Word processing is an analogous skill. We do not require that students check all spelling with a dictionary rather than by the computer's spell check program. Instead, we expect students to be able to gauge the reasonableness of a spell check message using their own experiences drawn from reading, writing, and dictionary use. In the same way, young students can learn to compare the calculator's messages to the reasonable answers they have learned to expect from their evolving understanding of arithmetic.