On the contrary, the problem with elementary mathematics education is that teachers don't tell students that they're supposed to not feel stupid at the point that they understand something. Students think it's fine that they mechanically do long division without understanding how it works. Then the next year, they have to be taught how to mechanically do long division again, and they still don't know why it works. Eventually, their foundation is so shaky that they don't understand why anything they're doing works.
