Why is it important to teach students a wide variety of computational strategies?

Children must be helped to learn mathematics in a better way than we were, so that mathematical limits do not shut them out of certain life choices and career options.1

-Marilyn Burns

Research has shown that teaching the standard U.S. algorithms fails with a large number of children, and that alternative algorithms are often easier for children to understand and learn.2

The rules we teach interfere with student's intuition.

-Graham Fletcher

If the standard algorithm (traditional stacking) is the only method we teach students, we are doing them a great disservice. Not only do they often not understand why they're doing what they're doing and make errors due to their lack of conceptual understanding -  they miss out on opportunities to explore numbers in ways that are creative and beautiful.

References:

1. “Strategies for Addition and Subtraction.” Utah Elementary Mathematics, 27 Mar. 2014, utahelementarymath.wordpress.com/2014/03/27/strategies-for-addition-and-subtraction/.

2. “Alternative Algorithms.” Everyday Mathematics, everydaymath.uchicago.edu/parents/understanding-em/alternative-algorithms/.

Dieker, Lisa. “Inthenavy 281.” YouTube, YouTube, 16 Aug. 2016, www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HvGven4qJ0.

II, Sir Howard. “Proving 25 Divided by 5=14.” YouTube, YouTube, 9 Feb. 2014, www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=4&v=Kc08uS4wZhg.