Arithmetic (again)

A week ago, the Wiskundemeisjes('Mathgirls') posted that the debate on education of arithmetic and mathematics has come back from holiday again. The new season of fierce discussions has been opened by Joost Hulshof. Read his article in Dutch here: http://www.math.vu.nl/~jhulshof/TAL.pdf (CASE-sensitive!). Hulshof argues against the so called 'realistic arithmetic'. After reading the piece, I have to conclude that the proponents of realistic arithmetic have a major misconception of what cognitive psychology has to teach us.
(I sense polarisation at work.)