Yes, Teaching Math Facts IS Important

This article, Kid's brains reorganize when learning math skills,  has a simple take-home message:

Drilling kids on simple addition and multiplication may pay off.  "Experience really does matter," said Dr. Kathy Mann Koepke of the National Institutes of Heath, which funded the research. 

I see no problem with teaching kids alternative ways to look at how math works, like is done with Common Core curriculum.  But doing so instead of teaching math facts is a big mistake.