Dear Marhematicians,

We have learned many ways to multiply. We teach you so many methods because we want you to learn to be strategic in your thinking. Depending on the numbers, you will choose a different multiplication strategy. And you will learn to make the numbers make sense.

If you only learn one method to multiply numbers, then you’ll probably get really good at that one method, but you can only ever use it to multiply numbers. But if you learn to think strategically, and you learn to think about your thinking, then you can apply that to any problem you face in the world.

It’s like having a banana slicer versus a chef’s knife.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck