Why are people so upset about Common Core?

[Anonymous]

Remember too, your unions are there to protect teachers and they are ringing alarm bells. Ask yourself why, i.e. what you do not know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
OK, so I could go all through these, but to me, they are completely appropriate for end of K. Completely. Why do you think a child in grade K can't draw a picture of details he learned about a frog, or tell a teacher what happened first next last? I shudder to think what your Kindergarten would look like, if you had a class, but didn't think these things were appropriate for K students.

My kid did these things in kindergarten, before the Common Core.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Wow. No words. Enjoy the freedom and bennies while you got them teachers!

Why do you assume that I'm a teacher? I'm not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
OK, so I could go all through these, but to me, they are completely appropriate for end of K. Completely. Why do you think a child in grade K can't draw a picture of details he learned about a frog, or tell a teacher what happened first next last? I shudder to think what your Kindergarten would look like, if you had a class, but didn't think these things were appropriate for K students.

My kid did these things in kindergarten, before the Common Core.

Oh yes, all the perfect 5 year olds of the DCUM!

Too bad other educators are calling your bluff. They say there are too much.

"Here in Clark County Nevada we have been treated to a special pep talk by our new superintendent, a 25 year veteran of the district and a former kindergarten teacher. He stated on Jon Ralston’s show that we will have to step up to meet the Common Core standards. He bluntly stated that from his experience kindergarten would be teaching what he said were 2nd and 3rd grade concepts in his time. I am glad for his honesty, but I am sure reality will intrude on his wish that children attain and perform at levels that are developmentally inappropriate. I am not sure he is enough of a bureaucrat to know he made an admission that others should amplify. Our kids aren’t stupid, our schools aren’t failing, the tests are not appropriate.”

[Anonymous]

More teachers weigh in on their inappropriateness:

http://teachersletterstobillgates.com/2013/06/10/is-common-core-making-kindergarten-too-hard-for-5-year-old-children/

"As a Wisconsin Kindergarten teacher who just completed a school year under the Common Core ELAINE and Math Standards, I am sickened by the expectations I was forced to have of my 5year old CHILDREN. My stomach was turning everyday as I cried tears in my head when I needed to deliver 70+ minutes of sit down reading instruction and 60 minutes of workbook math instruction everyday. Free time and time for socializing was out. Even formal scheduled snack time, no science or social studies in the name of a reading level of D for ALL and fluency in math facts to 10. I could go on an on about no time for classroom art, music or FUN! It makes me want to quit. Speaking against only got me threats of no job and trouble. Still trying to do something about it with a fake smile."

"These people KNOW nothing about childhood development! Children’s minds go through developmental stages. A kindergartener is not ready for abstract concepts yet . I teach 4th grade and there are students who are still not ready for some of the abstract concepts we expect them to grasp.
I think this is what is causing some of our reading gaps also (especially with boys). We are trying to teach concepts they are not yet ready for, thus they do not quite get them. They then move forward to the next grade, already behind, and then we continue to push them forward whether they are ready or not! The students I have now are often 1 (and in some cases 2 years younger) then what I hade a few years ago. SURPRISE–these are the students who often enter my class with the most difficulty in reading. I have no problem with high expectations for my students, as long as those expectations are realistic for their age and stage of development!"

"I have been teaching kindergarten for 15 years and yes, I do feel the new common core standards are too difficult for many students. There will always be those kids who excel, but there will be far more who struggle. It is very difficult to tell a parent AND a child, “I’m sorry, but you are a failure at 5 years old.” It breaks my heart. Not to mention the fact that in California kindergarten isn’t even required and many students enter school as first graders. Those students will be behind from the moment they enter school."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
OK, so I could go all through these, but to me, they are completely appropriate for end of K. Completely. Why do you think a child in grade K can't draw a picture of details he learned about a frog, or tell a teacher what happened first next last? I shudder to think what your Kindergarten would look like, if you had a class, but didn't think these things were appropriate for K students.

My kid did these things in kindergarten, before the Common Core.

Oh yes, all the perfect 5 year olds of the DCUM!

Too bad other educators are calling your bluff. They say there are too much.

"Here in Clark County Nevada we have been treated to a special pep talk by our new superintendent, a 25 year veteran of the district and a former kindergarten teacher. He stated on Jon Ralston’s show that we will have to step up to meet the Common Core standards. He bluntly stated that from his experience kindergarten would be teaching what he said were 2nd and 3rd grade concepts in his time. I am glad for his honesty, but I am sure reality will intrude on his wish that children attain and perform at levels that are developmentally inappropriate. I am not sure he is enough of a bureaucrat to know he made an admission that others should amplify. Our kids aren’t stupid, our schools aren’t failing, the tests are not appropriate.”

And yet you have MoCo parents complaining things are dumbed down. So obviously it's not too hard for everyone. What's the solution- let each state go their own way so the disparity continues to grow?

Also, continuing to use 4yr olds in the examples is stupid as most kindergardeners are 5 when they start- or at least by December. I can't think of any school district that has a cutoff later than December, and most are earlier.

[Anonymous]

http://teachersletterstobillgates.com/2013/06/10/is-common-core-making-kindergarten-too-hard-for-5-year-old-children/

And MORE!

?I’m a Wisconsin Kindergarten teacher and have been teaching with the CCSS for three years now. I have found that the amount of time that I have for enrichment activities is nearly zero. No art, music, physical activities, experiments, and play. It’s a lot of stress for everyone involved and kindergarten should be fun. Our day was a lot of work, work, work and by the end of the day everyone is tired. I don’t hear “I love school” and “School is fun!” anymore. I think Kindergarten should be more social interactions and hands-on learning through experimentation. My Kindergarten students are already being assessed to death with MAPS 3 times per year and PALS twice a year. In between those assessments we are working at the skills to improve those scores. The kids are not being instilled with a love of learning. It’s just skill and drill. I’m tired of it and so are the kids."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
My kid did these things in kindergarten, before the Common Core.

Oh yes, all the perfect 5 year olds of the DCUM!

Too bad other educators are calling your bluff. They say there are too much.

"Here in Clark County Nevada we have been treated to a special pep talk by our new superintendent, a 25 year veteran of the district and a former kindergarten teacher. He stated on Jon Ralston’s show that we will have to step up to meet the Common Core standards. He bluntly stated that from his experience kindergarten would be teaching what he said were 2nd and 3rd grade concepts in his time. I am glad for his honesty, but I am sure reality will intrude on his wish that children attain and perform at levels that are developmentally inappropriate. I am not sure he is enough of a bureaucrat to know he made an admission that others should amplify. Our kids aren’t stupid, our schools aren’t failing, the tests are not appropriate.”



If being able to explain that first Toad said he lost his button, and then Frog tried to help him find his button, is a second-grade or third-grade concept in schools in Nevada, then I'm pretty sure that the problem is the schools in Nevada, not the Common Core standards.

[Anonymous]

http://teachersletterstobillgates.com/2013/06/10/is-common-core-making-kindergarten-too-hard-for-5-year-old-children/

and from a parent whose kid is being screwed over:

"I am so happy to have found this site. I have a Kindergartner who is struggling terribly because of the Common Core Standards.

....

The curriculum is absolutely mind-boggling. The requirements to promote from Kindergarten to First Grade are more in line with what was required for children to promote from First Grade to Second Grade and some cases from Second Grade to Third Grade. It is ridiculous.



My Middle School child took a half day Kindergarten class and although she learned to read that year, most of her classmates did not. It was not a requirement. They have all thrived in their developmentally-appropriate courses. She has her sights set on MIT and it will be a crushing blow when she finds out that she won’t be able to attend such an institution because she wasn’t sequencing stories, identifying settings and main ideas, or doing basic algebra in Kindergarten and First Grades. I suppose she will have to settle for a sub-par school like Caltech. (Yes, I’m joking here – mostly. The bit about Caltech was not actually a joke. Ok, ok. Kidding.)

Truthfully, I’m angry and heartbroken over what is happening here. My son has overcome obstacle after obstacle to finally “catch up” developmentally and cognitively. He is smart as a whip and has a memory that is almost terrifying, but he is “failing” Kindergarten because of these changes and his confidence is taking all of the blows. I am relieved to find that I’m not alone out here in this. What is it going to take to get these things changed? Was it worth it? Because from where I’m standing, it appears that these standards have been set not FOR our children but at the RISK of our children.

I’m seriously already trying to teach my 3 year old how to read, write, identify sight words, and do basic math so she can be ready to enter Kindergarten when she is 5. (And THAT my friends is NO joke.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:http://teachersletterstobillgates.com/2013/06/10/is-common-core-making-kindergarten-too-hard-for-5-year-old-children/

And MORE!

?I’m a Wisconsin Kindergarten teacher and have been teaching with the CCSS for three years now. I have found that the amount of time that I have for enrichment activities is nearly zero. No art, music, physical activities, experiments, and play. It’s a lot of stress for everyone involved and kindergarten should be fun. Our day was a lot of work, work, work and by the end of the day everyone is tired. I don’t hear “I love school” and “School is fun!” anymore. I think Kindergarten should be more social interactions and hands-on learning through experimentation. My Kindergarten students are already being assessed to death with MAPS 3 times per year and PALS twice a year. In between those assessments we are working at the skills to improve those scores. The kids are not being instilled with a love of learning. It’s just skill and drill. I’m tired of it and so are the kids."

The Common Core standards are standards. Not a curriculum. If a school district in Wisconsin has decided that kindergarteners no longer get art, music, physical education, experiments, and play, that's not the fault of the Common Core standards. That's the fault of that school district in Wisconsin.

Don't believe me? MCPS has a curriculum aligned to the Common Core. And yet kindergarteners in MCPS get art, music, and physical education -- presumably also experiments and play, but I didn't have a kindergartener in Curriculum 2.0, so I don't know that for a fact.

[Anonymous]

Since when is Nevada considered a high performing state in education? Sorry but I don't give too much weight to the opinion of a superintendent from Nevada. A state who earned a D in giving its students a chance at success.

Wasn't part of the problem and one of the reason for Common Core that certain states had very low standards? That many countries are passing us by? Yes - we need to raise the educational standards of our country. Are we to not raise our standards because some states have low educational expectations for our students? Should we just admit that students in some states just can't hack what similarly aged students in other states can? Should we further broaden the divide in this country between educational haves and have nots?

Those kindergarten standards are not unreasonable. We just need to start expecting more from our students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
I’m seriously already trying to teach my 3 year old how to read, write, identify sight words, and do basic math so she can be ready to enter Kindergarten when she is 5. (And THAT my friends is NO joke.[/b])

Which Common Core standards require children to be able to read, write, identify sight words, and do basic math when they enter kindergarten?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Since when is Nevada considered a high performing state in education? Sorry but I don't give too much weight to the opinion of a superintendent from Nevada. A state who earned a D in giving its students a chance at success.

Wasn't part of the problem and one of the reason for Common Core that certain states had very low standards? That many countries are passing us by? Yes - we need to raise the educational standards of our country. Are we to not raise our standards because some states have low educational expectations for our students? Should we just admit that students in some states just can't hack what similarly aged students in other states can? Should we further broaden the divide in this country between educational haves and have nots?

Those kindergarten standards are not unreasonable. We just need to start expecting more from our students.

Since when do people in DC get to decide what kids in Nevada should learn?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I’m seriously already trying to teach my 3 year old how to read, write, identify sight words, and do basic math so she can be ready to enter Kindergarten when she is 5. (And THAT my friends is NO joke.[/b])

Which Common Core standards require children to be able to read, write, identify sight words, and do basic math when they enter kindergarten?

I love it when you play dumb!


They require you to do all that by the end of the year. But many, many kids just aren't developmentally ready, so they are failing, early and often, just like all the Tiger moms enjoy on these boards.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Since when is Nevada considered a high performing state in education? Sorry but I don't give too much weight to the opinion of a superintendent from Nevada. A state who earned a D in giving its students a chance at success.

Wasn't part of the problem and one of the reason for Common Core that certain states had very low standards? That many countries are passing us by? Yes - we need to raise the educational standards of our country. Are we to not raise our standards because some states have low educational expectations for our students? Should we just admit that students in some states just can't hack what similarly aged students in other states can? Should we further broaden the divide in this country between educational haves and have nots?

Those kindergarten standards are not unreasonable. We just need to start expecting more from our students.

Since when do people in DC get to decide what kids in Nevada should learn?

Good news! People in DC are not deciding what kids in Nevada should learn! The decision to adopt or not adopt the Common Core standards is entirely up to the state of Nevada!