Common Core is going to make my autistic child unemployable

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Common Core support is dropping like a stone. http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/common-core-educational-standards-are-losing-support-nationwide-poll-shows/2014/08/19/67b1f20c-27cb-11e4-8593-da634b334390_story.html

And once the test results come out next year and 70 percent of kids fail like they have been in EVERY state that has used a Common Core test....there will be blood in the water. Politicians won't be able to run away from it fast enough, and that includes Democrats as well as Republicans.

My guess is if that happens they will adjust the test, not the standards. Of course, none of us knows what will happen 8 months from now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:http://www.americanthinker.com/2014/09/uncommon_not_core.html

One person's view of why CC math is not a good thing. She explains why.

Ah yes. She doesn't like the Common Core standards because

1. they are too hard
2. they require students to understand math
3. something something calculators

She wrote a detailed and well- supported discussion of the issues. This is your response? You are not representing your side well at all.

No, that's not my response. It's my summary. That's actually what she says. For example:

Students work hard at tasks beyond their strength; they flounder; they fail; = the standards are too hard
the current crop of reform math educators has decided that transformations are an essential underlying principle, and are teaching them: laboriously, painfully, and unnecessarily. = they require students to undestand math
One aspect of Common Core that did not surprise me was a heavy reliance on calculators. = something something calculators. I haven't seen any standards in the Comon Core related to a heavy reliance on calculators.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, sadly, 'most of America' is not gifted at math, so endless repetition is the only way to ensure kids graduate from school knowing multiplication tables. The fact that your child is 'gifted' does not negate the fact that public schools cater to the average.
Get him in private if you need accelerated math.

A private school that is going to welcome a child with autism who has some academic weaknesses is likely going to have plenty of kids with social skills issues which is not a great idea when your child needs social role models. Have you seen how math is taught with CC? The repetition is a small part of the problem. They are teaching ridiculously involved ways to do simple math problems. Kids should be allowed to figure out what style works best for them. One size fits all is insane. Plus, every public school has math groups, but ALL the math groups have to use CC.

Clearly you have no experience with kids who have autism or the private schools which they attend.

[Anonymous]

No, that's not my response. It's my summary. That's actually what she says. For example:

Students work hard at tasks beyond their strength; they flounder; they fail; = the standards are too hard

The writer explained why some of the standards are inappropriate for some grade levels. She understands readiness and childhood development. The writers of these standards do not.

[Anonymous]

2. they require students to understand math

No. They require students to go through convoluted processes in order to pass the tests. Some kids may have a different approach in their minds that does not suit the developer of the test.

[Anonymous]

It's kind of like making people follow the GPS which does not always give the most direct route--when they know the easy shortcut.

[Anonymous]

I find it amazing people buy the garbage that these standards are good. They are wordy and unclear. They demand abstractness before children are ready for it.


And it's a lie that they are "deeper." They are shallow -- and there's too many of them to possibly reach. The testing will sink most kids.

It's going to be a national disaster for kids in school today.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I find it amazing people buy the garbage that these standards are good. They are wordy and unclear. They demand abstractness before children are ready for it.


And it's a lie that they are "deeper." They are shallow -- and there's too many of them to possibly reach. The testing will sink most kids.

It's going to be a national disaster for kids in school today.

Please give some examples of specific math standards you think are bad, and explain why you think they are bad.

http://www.corestandards.org/Math/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's kind of like making people follow the GPS which does not always give the most direct route--when they know the easy shortcut.

No, it's kind of like making people demonstrate how to get there, in order to show that they understand how to get there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

No, that's not my response. It's my summary. That's actually what she says. For example:

Students work hard at tasks beyond their strength; they flounder; they fail; = the standards are too hard

The writer explained why some of the standards are inappropriate for some grade levels. She understands readiness and childhood development. The writers of these standards do not.

The writer is an engineer by training and a tutor of math to homeschoolers by experience. Why do you think she understands readiness and childhood development better than the writers of these standards?

Also, a lot of the Common Core standards are at the same grade levels as Singapore Math. Do the curriculum writers in Singapore also not understand readiness and child development?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's kind of like making people follow the GPS which does not always give the most direct route--when they know the easy shortcut.


No, it's kind of like making people demonstrate how to get there, in order to show that they understand how to get there.

LOL! You must have had all the KoolAid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Kids with ASDS who are bright often show strong math skills when they are younger, because they have strong computation skills. They struggle when they get to the higher maths, because it requires math reasoning as much as raw computational ability. If your child is struggling with the math reasoning required by Common Core, then he is gifted at computation, but that isn't going to translate as gifted at math as he gets older and the work gets more complicated.

If he is good at math, not just computation, then he needs to work on his math reasoning and his verbal skills related to math to be truly employable. You aren't doing this kid any favors by allowing him to slide by on his weak areas and not challenging him to work harder.

/Mom of an 11 year with an ASD

I completely agree.

- Sister of a math prodigy who was diagnosed with ASD as an adult. DB has excellent verbal skills and took college English courses as a 14 yr old as well as advanced math. He went to college at 14.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's kind of like making people follow the GPS which does not always give the most direct route--when they know the easy shortcut.


No, it's kind of like making people demonstrate how to get there, in order to show that they understand how to get there.

LOL! You must have had all the KoolAid.

And you're the independent thinker? My opinion is the opposite: I'm the independent thinker, and you've had all the KoolAid.

[Anonymous]

And you're the independent thinker? My opinion is the opposite: I'm the independent thinker, and you've had all the KoolAid.

No. I rely on thinking, common sense, and years of teaching experience. I am not a sheep to CC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

And you're the independent thinker? My opinion is the opposite: I'm the independent thinker, and you've had all the KoolAid.

No. I rely on thinking, common sense, and years of teaching experience. I am not a sheep to CC.

Hooray! I also rely on thinking, common sense, and years of teaching experience, and I think that the Common Core standards are a good thing. I'm glad that we agree.