I think your experience is exactly how all of these other parents are reacting. It seems that the parents are getting frustrated because they don't understand

I think your experience is exactly how all of these other parents are reacting. It seems that the parents are getting frustrated because they don't understand it, and would rather insist on using their methods. Don't get me wrong, it's valuable to know how to do something simply, but I think that the underpinnings of doing it the 'chunk' way show students how to break very large, seemingly overwhelmingly complex problems into smaller bits.