Hi Rosine,
Is this the post you are referring to?

"I'd also like to add that once your daughter knows the 1's, 2's, 3's and 5's she can figure out the other multiplication facts by doubling the facts or doubling and adding depending on what fact she needs to know. An example is....when asked what is 8 x 6. If she does not know that but knows 3 x 8 =24 then 6 x 8 is double 24 which is 48."

So I can infer from this that DS should be seeing patterns as I mentioned above rather than just adding say 7+7+7? I was just curious as to the reason behind flashing the abacus which I would think is to see the 5s etc.

Here is a copy of the email posted Nov. 18th.

Dear Sybil,

Here are a few more explanations from Dr. Cotter for you to consider as well as share with your child's teacher.

"In adding, subtracting, and dividing, we start with a number and then do something with it. For example, 7 + 5 is 7 with 5 added to it. So, multiplication should be 7 and then duplicate it. The Japanese and Montessori also do it as 7 x 5 meaning 7 five times.

There is another reason. On a coordinate system, we always go horizontal first and then vertical. So, for 7 x 5, it is across 7 and then down (or up) 5."

I hope this helps explain the RS way of "seeing" and processing math and why it makes sense to do it this way. However, as Nancy said, you might want to check what your state tests are looking for, even though in the end it's not what the test says, it's how much math our children understand, along with their ability to reason and problem solve.

Thank you for your post.

Sincerely, Rosine