We've all seen that post on our social media timeline when one of your virtual friends shares that story of how they were helping their child with math homework only to hear their child say "My Teacher said that's wrong!". Or maybe you haven't seen this scenario on your timeline, but you have an elementary school child and have dealt with this issue first hand. This is becoming a "common" concern since the adoption of the Common Core State Standards for mathematics by several states across the U.S. Some parents like hearing the words Common Core as much as they like hearing someone scratching a chalkboard. Let's get to the bottom of issue and hopefully by the end of this post, you will have a better understanding of why you despise helping your child do their math homework these days. Most people only know that the Common Core standards were implemented so that students across the United States would be learning the same concepts in their mathematics classes. However, the intent of the writers of the Common Core State Standards (CCSSM) was to help students have a better conceptual understanding of the mathematics they are learning. In plain english terms this means they were trying to help kids answer the question of "Why". For example, students have been taught for years that when you are subtracting multi-digit numbers, you may have to "borrow" from the next higher place value if the number on the bottom is larger than the number on the top. But when someone borrows something from you, naturally you expect them to give it back at some point right? This method worked for years in classrooms across the U.S., but students were just learning how to follow a set of procedures to solve these subtraction problems. What the CCSSM is supposed to show is that you are not borrowing anything. In fact, you are actually regrouping the number that is on top and writing it in a different form. Where this relates to classroom teachers today is unfortunately many of them have not received quality training in teaching the Common Core Standards, so unfortunately they are forced to convey the information to the students the only way they know how. This is causing frustration amongst parents every single day I'm sure. On behalf of the teachers, I would like to say that many elementary school teachers struggled with teaching mathematics before Common Core adoption and the problem got worse after the adoption of those standards. My suggestion to the parents is to seek out virtual resources to supplement what you already know and also be open to learning how this "new math" works. Whether you know it or not, your attitude towards the math often transfers to your child and they begin to have a negative mindset towards the work when they see that from you. There are several virtual math tutors available that can help you and your child get a better understanding of the concepts if you are willing to invest in your child's education. Also you can find a vast amount of virtual math lessons via the internet. I'd like to suggest the Youtube channel for one of the best online math tutors out there which happens to be Young Gurus Math Tutoring!
2 Comments
8/30/2017 03:54:21 pm
Lol, This last sentence I agree with. You are the best online math tutor, or at least one of the best.
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8/30/2017 04:13:12 pm
This is a great way to describe the common core standards to parents.
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