Hi Pokerdad,
I think your experience reflects a lot parents who are shocked by the outcome of math in schools today.
I would add that the biggest problem I see isn’t that they are trying to teach relationships. I think it’s great that they are trying to do things better. The problem is that it’s not built on a foundation of being able to do the actual calculations and therefore kids have no math “sense”.
As for Soroban hindering math learning: I never had an issue with any conflicts with facts.
Usually, I found that I had extra time during class and on tests. Since I didn’t have to waste time consciously thinking about the basic math functions (add, sub, mult, div) or having to rely on a calculator. And because I’m a bit of a geek lol , I loved to think about the why and how the new topic would fit into my web of math understanding.
I am waiting for technical support to advise me.