My grandmother was a whiz at math, and could multiply huge numbers in her head. She was appalled that my teachers wouldn't allow it.
"How the heck do they expect your brain to grow?" she'd rant.
Inversely, they no longer teach kids to "sound out" words to learn spelling.
That test was indicative of a much more complete education than what's offered now, or when I went to school.
Same here. I was fortunate when I went to school they still taught phonetics and how to sound out words.
Both my Mom and Dad took a big interest in teaching me, my Mom reading and my Dad math. I was reading before I even started school, not because I'm brilliant or anything but my folks took an active interest.
Most parents today really don't seem to give a hoot about their kids, let alone their education (and I won't even bring up manners)...guess we can consider ourselves among the lucky ones.