My Issues with Common Core Curriculums

Common Core

It's a phrase that most parents I know have come to dread.

I understand that it's just a level of standards that they children need to learn by the end of the year, and how the teachers teach it is their discretion.

However...  The programs that appear to have been made available to the teachers are, in my honest opinion, ridiculous.

I'm annoyed at the fact that my daughters rarely come home with homework.  They can't build a study routine when they don't have studying to do.  We limit screen time, so these practice websites are not my top choice.  I purchased math workbooks to supplement, but it's not enough.  And when they do come home with homework, we are overwhelmed with questions, because it's a printed page, and there is no text book to help them find the answers.

My biggest critique is of this math program; it doesn't cater to my eldest daughter's learning style.  2+2=4.  It always will.  She hates having to learn all these other devices to come up with the same answer.   And the terminology they want the kids to learn.  It's all "grouping;" not carrying over or borrowing.  If you want to make it make sense, use terms that a kid will understand.

My eldest is learning multiplication now.  I don't remember learning it until the fourth grade, she's in third.  But some of the stuff she's brought home looks like algebra, which isn't a bad thing, necessarily.  But the problems are written poorly:

2 x 2 + 2 = __

So, does anyone see the problem with this question?

(2 x 2) + 2  = 6

2 x (2 + 2)  = 8

So which is it that they're asking for?  I had her write it both ways… a week later, I haven't seen the graded assignment, so I don't know which was the answer they were looking for.

Then we get things like this:

This is a practice test.  There is no explanation that each X=1 "creature."  Then, what if the child doesn't know that an ant has 6 legs or the spider has 8 legs, because they haven't covered insects in science.  

For my husband to see homework like this and say "Maybe it is time to look into private school," it's serious.  

I know from the parent-teacher conferences a few months ago that their teachers aren't happy with this curriculum, but don't mind the standards.  Both my girls have exhibited exceptionally high standardized test scores (which is what schools ALL ABOUT, right?) and read/comprehend 2 grade levels above where they are.

But they are bored; not feeling challenged, but confused by the "silly work."

Seriously, though… homeschooling and private school are starting to look a lot better now...