@RedTechEngineer @Tony
We don't have this in my part of Europe. I've seen a couple of such math examples over the years, and... tbh completely honest, I do find some of them as neat examples of how to think differently about math. And I would have liked to be shown some of them as a kid.

BUT, a kid shouldn't be graded on whether he understood and can apply the random common core tricks (which from what I've seen, they apparently are). Just give him 63x9, and let him choose whatever method he wants to solve that.

If he can draw the rectangles on paper, or in his mind, as fast or faster than I can use the traditional method, why stop him from using it? I think it can be useful to show different methods, just in case one of them clicks better for someone than the traditional method, and they are faster then they would have been otherwise.

BUT DON'T waste too much class time on this. Show the thing once, let the kids know they can also do things this way if they like, but don't linger on it. And don't try to grade them on knowing all the methods. At the end of the school year, they really should just know the one that is fastest for them. And just grade the fucking end result.