I'm a parent and have a STEM degree. My brother is a double PhD in chemistry and genetics. We've both looked at the CC math standards. They are excellent for teaching math reasoning, which is the most important part of math.

I find that the parents who are bitching about the CC math standards are generally poorly educated in math. They don't understand math. They don't understand math reasoning. They are completely baffled by the math reasoning that their children are learning. I find that encouraging, because US training in math has been really terrible until now. I think the CC standards are excellent for teaching good math skills in a way that matches US culture (emphasis on critical thinking and outcomes, rather than rote learning) and creates the skills that STEM employers value (creative problem solving).

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

Anonymous wrote:Amazing how "experts" can cause so much confusion. The verbage alone in these standards is ridiculous. Simpler is almost always better.

+100

There is nothing wrong with exposing kids to math language and using it with them. However, the verbage seems to be the most important part of the new standards. Bad idea.

DH and I are scientists. Real life interaction, even at the STEM academic level, is all about communication, not math ability. So while Common Core math is uncommonly tortuous and inefficient, and I would be happy for it to change, it's also a warning sign of the shoals ahead.

High-functioning DS is not gifted in math, but has trouble with language, so the Common Core verbiage is excruciating for him. However, I look at it as a challenge for him and a work-out for his expressive-receptive language skills.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm no expert in this stuff, but the reliance on language seems like a HUGE problem in common core math, one which will disadvantage any kid who does not have good language skills for whatever reason. I'm not sure why the common core throws out a perfectly good system of symbols that has been developed over time to do math ...

I'm an ESOL teacher and math used to be the one area my students felt successful in while they worked on their language skills. Not anymore. My own son is starting to hate math because of the writing involved. 2-7=14. It is a math fact and by 3rd grade, they shouldn't require students to write about HOW they got this answer. They want them to memorize the facts at home so we did over the summer. But he got points taken off his written explanation for this math FACT.

I'm a former ESOL teacher, now world languages, and + 1 to the bolded. What a shame. I'm also the mom of a child who used to LOVE math. It was her favorite subject. She loves math puzzles and participated and placed in her school's math challenge program in 1st through 3rd. Our district's implementation of CC standard-aligned curriculum has been a mess and the wordy, repetitive math problems are the worst. The worksheets make my blood pressure rise. They are sometimes not testing the principle they claim to be testing, and sometimes the strategy they require you to use to solve the problem the "correct" way is a strategy that nobody in her right mind would ever use to solve the particular problem being asked. Evening homework has become a protracted tear and whine fest.

Anonymous wrote:

CCSS.Math.Content.2.MD.A.1
Measure the length of an object by selecting and using appropriate tools such as rulers, yardsticks, meter sticks, and measuring tapes.

Do you think that's a bad thing to expect a second-grader to be able to do?

No. In fact, I taught that in first grade and K. You don't need a spelled out standard for that. It has been done for many,many years.

If everybody's already doing it, then what is there to be upset about? The Common Core standards are bad because they're making you do stuff you're already doing?

What do you think teachers were doing before CC? Nothing?

It's complete Crapo, Maryland schools are failing math across the board cc didn't help, it destroyed the kids abilities. Fairfax county is awesome

CCSS.Math.Content.2.MD.A.1
Measure the length of an object by selecting and using appropriate tools such as rulers, yardsticks, meter sticks, and measuring tapes.

Do you think that's a bad thing to expect a second-grader to be able to do?

No. In fact, I taught that in first grade and K. You don't need a spelled out standard for that. It has been done for many,many years.

Anonymous wrote:

Fine, you don't like the way the standards are written. But how about the knowledge the standards call for?

Just curious. Why can't you see that this whole CC thing is a mess?

How about: because "this whole CC thing" is not a mess. Parts of it are. Parts of it aren't.

I still want to know which specific Common Core standards you think are inappropriate or bad. How about this one, for second grade:

CCSS.Math.Content.2.MD.A.1
Measure the length of an object by selecting and using appropriate tools such as rulers, yardsticks, meter sticks, and measuring tapes.

Do you think that's a bad thing to expect a second-grader to be able to do?

Anonymous wrote:I'm no expert in this stuff, but the reliance on language seems like a HUGE problem in common core math, one which will disadvantage any kid who does not have good language skills for whatever reason. I'm not sure why the common core throws out a perfectly good system of symbols that has been developed over time to do math ...

I'm an ESOL teacher and math used to be the one area my students felt successful in while they worked on their language skills. Not anymore. My own son is starting to hate math because of the writing involved. 2-7=14. It is a math fact and by 3rd grade, they shouldn't require students to write about HOW they got this answer. They want them to memorize the facts at home so we did over the summer. But he got points taken off his written explanation for this math FACT.

Fine, you don't like the way the standards are written. But how about the knowledge the standards call for?

Just curious. Why can't you see that this whole CC thing is a mess?

There are lots of ways to arrive at the right answer. There are lots of learning styles. CC proponents have developed tests for the standards that want answers done "their" way.

Anonymous wrote:Amazing how "experts" can cause so much confusion. The verbage alone in these standards is ridiculous. Simpler is almost always better.

Fine, you don't like the way the standards are written. But how about the knowledge the standards call for?