[ryanricard]

I think this is my first time encountering the "Grid Method," maybe I've seen it before but I was definitely taught the "old way" in school.

It's genius. I remember the thing I hated the most about long multiplication or division was having to go back and "do it all over again" if I got the answer wrong. The nice thing about the Grid, though, is if you screw up the answer in one of the cells, all the remaining cells might still be good. Then you only have to re-do the addition. Much more user-friendly.

I don't have kids, but it makes me sad that any parent could see their kid come home with that respond with anger. Hell, once you've let your kid show you their way, maybe you can teach him the old way too. The far more important lesson, I think, is that there's more than one way to do it.