Oh the aim is a good one and it's worth trying. They're just a
   little harder for people who do math in their heads already.
   When you already have a working mental algorithm in your head
   that just works, learning a different method can be harder than
   if you are starting from zero for example. (although honestly, I
   don't think people ever start from zero; by the time you enter
   school, you've amassed a tremendous amount of knowledge already)

   Still, I can see what it's good to learn, although I believe
   they should be more honest about WHY they're doing "Show Your
   Work".

   It's a strange message I got when I was a kid, and kids still
   get today: Getting the answer right doesn't matter if the
   process doesn't conform.

   The little words (show your work) turns out to be the MOST
   important thing, not a side-thing. Things in parenthesis are
   traditionally ignorable/optional. But in school, show your work
   _was_ the important part.

   I had to explain the process to my nephew last year, and he "got
   it"; on the first telling, how the process goes from "show your
   work" to teacher, to administration to school board, to state
   funding, to federal funding and then back down to the school
   again through money and that the correct answer *is* the work
   you show, not the final math answer. The education system isn't
   complicated but knowing the hierarchy and where you fit in the
   scheme of it is helpful. (show your work) was ridiculous when I
   went to school, it's ridiculous now but it's necessary.