The trouble with math today...

Is it just me, or does every parent wonder what the hell they're teaching kids today in math class. What was wrong with borrowing and carrying? Now it's all about the place value and "regrouping." Do we really need 27 different "methods" to add, subtract, multiply and divide? Call me old fashioned, but I'm a firm believer in the old "if it ain't broke don't fix it" adage. My third grader recently learned the "lattice method" of multiplication. Let me just give you a sample: 56 x 39.
OLD WAY -
56
x 39
---------
504
1680
------------
2184
Yes, I had to carry the 5 from 9x6 and the 1 from 3x8 and then add, but it's really a pretty simple operation, right?
And now for the lattice method

5 6

		1 5	1 8
1	1	4 5	5 4
2	1	8	4

3

9

WTF???? I need to regroup myself after all that.