How can I help with homework?????

At work yesterday I met the new dean of students for LSM. She mentioned during our little meet & greet that there is a new way to teach math these days and it's COMPLETELY different than how we were all taught growing up. There's some sort of box involved and they calculate everything differently (adding, subtracting, etc). She went to our trusty whiteboard to explain but I couldn't really fathom how ridiculous this was. It wasn't until today when I realized it. I am currently in Rochester for a database training (which by the way WILL save our lives at LMP!!!!!!!! I am so excited!). I of course stopped at Chipotle AND Noodles & Co for dinner and while I was waiting for my pasta, I overheard a dad and his daughter working on her math homework. He was trying to tell her how to figure out a complex division problem and she was having NONE of it. She kept saying, "that's not how we do it!" And he kept trying to tell her because to him, it was the MUCH easier way to solve the problem. I just had to smile but really, how will I teach my kids if I don't know the method that they are being taught??????