Got this idea from New York where they are sending ridiculous homework assignments to Cuomo the governor. But here that wouldn’t work. They’d go right into the trashcan, and state police would be sent to stake out the return address. But if one loaded up one’s representative or senator with all your children’s homework that didn’t make sense, those elected officials who hope to still be serving you long after Markell and Murphy have moved on to other venues…. had better pay attention.
We have a better shot at stopping the maddness, and they as our representatives, really need to be aware of the child abuse being slung out by Common Core…
Like this… First try to figure out what they want. Then try to figure out how to do it. Then guess what age group this is for.
This is a first-grade test question of Common Core. You can see the logo in the bottom left. Struggling? This is a first grade test. Remember first grade? 2 + 2 ?
What does this actually teach? If adults can’t figure it out, why is it so important for children 7 years in under, to know what ever it is they are supposed to know?
This is basically garbage that has slipped through because there is no oversight or anyone checking the content of what comes out. Unlike the old days, there are no parent textbook committees. It gets pulled out previously unseen, every day and handed out.
Your state representatives and state senators need to see this…So if you get homework that is bizarre, copy and send it to them…Their emails are here for the House and here for the Senate…
Subjecting children to this is child abuse. It needs to stop.now.
Just in case you aced the first above (thinking of Mike O as I type this), here are some more examples. Ask ;yourself, what are they teaching and why are we paying a premium in tax dollars for our children to become dumber through Common Core…..
This is not making America great. This is making us educationally worse than the Central African Republic….
kavips 
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January 31, 2014 at 11:21 am
Mike O.
If you want to know what it teaches, read the whole thing instead of just cherry-picking snapshots: http://academics.tulsaschools.org/Portals/Tulsa/Curriculum/docs/Math/Grade%201/Unit%201/Lessons/Lesson%2024%20Topic%20F.pdf
It’s a whole lesson plan; the explanations for how to do it is presented and demonstrated in class. Check out the whole booklet; there are also traditional addition worksheets.
I agree it seems an awkward way to explain math. Maybe it is just better to memorize the combinations, the way we learned, and then hopefully you will derive the logic behind it as the years pass.
And the “which one is not alike” sheet is ridiculous. But grade school has always had its share of baffling and ridiculus worksheets since long before Common Core, and we survived.
Also note that you are using NYS worksheets, which are known to be often a bit too precious. My daughter’s elementary curriculum uses a package called “Excel Math” which is quite good, and she is doing well and learning math just fine.
The choice of materials to use is up to the district and is not dictated by Common Core.
January 31, 2014 at 11:59 am
kavips
First thanks for pulling up the entire lesson. I think it fortifies, not diminishes a parent’s concern against Common Core teaching. I’m not sure if you went through the lesson plan step by step, but I did, because I wanted to see what is missing. To be frank, I don’t understand it. If I can’t understand it… how can a first grader seeing it for the first time… Keep in mind I have hindsight when looking back. i already know what the answers are… so wouldn’t that make it far more confusing for a child to learn math?
Why does a child need to know the theoretical principles behind mathematics, anyway? Are they going to be the ones teaching math, in the second grade?
I encourage everyone to look at the link Mike provided. Take the 40 minutes to work through the lesson, and when you get to the ladders, do you know what to do? I didn’t. Therefore one must ask, is this age appropriate for children in the first grade? Or is it just gobblygook to masque that nothing is there at all to those legislators who don’t want to admit, they don’t understand it either….
What does all this mean? How on earth can this actually help you with math?
January 31, 2014 at 12:14 pm
kavips
So out of curiosity I decided to look at excel math . You speak of it highly. It is better crafted than Common Core derived material, meaning it did not come out of the mind of David Coleman. I am beginning to think, after being exposed to multiple videos of his speeches, that he is the underlying problem behind the teaching materials not making sense to students.
Excel is an independent unit and has been around long before Common Core was thought up. Excel seems to have had to modify itself towards Common Core in order to keep some of it’s accounts… It is probably less good at teaching then.
It appears from the time line and wording inside the site that the Common Core materials are “shipping out now”. Meaning your daughter may be still on the pre-Common Core variety… Which could explain how you are pleased with it, and everyone else familiar with Common Core materials, are horrified….
January 31, 2014 at 12:20 pm
kavips
Here is Excel’s Common Core Lesson plan for the same I published in the image on my post… Far easier to understand. As we covered last spring, the issue with Common Core is not so much in its broad standards; the issue is what is being taught, what is being tested, and how poorly that prepares children for the next level. I see why you might be prone to supporting Common Core if Excel was the part of it with which you had familiarity….
February 1, 2014 at 11:37 am
John Young
Mike, respectfully, if you believe this the boots on the ground, classroom reality, you are truly naive. Also, it makes you come off as an NGA/CCSSO PR guy.
Seriously.
February 1, 2014 at 1:25 pm
kavips
A refresher might be in order. I believe a state is limited by the contract to changing only 15% of the standards, meaning 85% must be set by the DOE.
How that 15% gets divvied up, would be a nightmare for which to give a full accounting if the DOE were ever to demand an audit showing full compliance.
It would go like this… Well we have deviations of 0.6% in Brandywine, 2.5% in Red Clay, 3% in Christina, 1.3% in Colonial, 0.3% in Appoquinimink, 0.2% in Smyrna, 2.8% in Capital, 0.7% in Cape Henlopen, 0.2% in Delmar, 0.8% Indian River, 0.2% in Lake Forest, 0.3% in Laurel, 0.2% in Woodbridge, 0.3% in Seaford, 0.2 in Milford, and the remain allowable 1.4% divvied up between the 3 VoTech’s and all the Charters….
That totals15% and although percents do not add up to achieve a full percentage, this as a model illustrates why the state itself, would insist on full compliance, with any deviation being handled at the state level in order to keep the lid from blowing off the pressure cooker….
The only way to achieve autonomy is to follow Christina Districts example and just do it because it is right, and let them find out for themselves, they have no leverage to make one comply….
Sort of like choosing to drive faster than 55 on a four lane highway with everyone else running 70… It creates danger to oneself to try and follow a petty rule.
July 6, 2014 at 5:38 pm
All About Common Core, Charters, and Public Education | kavips
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