[WayneS]

...[w]e want our students to compute correctly but the emphasis is really moving more towards the explanation, and the how, and the why, and ‘can I really talk through the procedures that I went through to get this answer,' and not just knowing that it’s 12, but why is it 12? How do I know that?"

WTF?!? You're trying to teach the children MATH, not Philosophy.

Three multiplied by four is twelve because we humans have agreed that our primary number system will be a base 10 number system. We humans have agreed to use a system of names and characters to represent the various values within that number system: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9.

Basic Arithmetic/Mathematics are the rules and processes by which we manipulate those characters within the base 10 number system we have chosen to use in order to assist us in our endeavors.

That is all the "explanation" and "how" and "why" a young student needs to know in order to begin learning base 10 mathematics. To teach otherwise is to do a grave disservice to young minds.

[Stepan12]

WTF?!? You're trying to teach the children MATH, not Philosophy

You obviously realize that math is not a verbal activity anyway. Men are less voluble (in general) than women because in, general, men's brains are heavier. More geared to math and science.