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I agree that test scores will plummet and that the Common Core curriculum is simply the latest stupid idea. From what I have seen so far, it seems to be a mix of inappropriately high expectations for lower grade levels combined with political correctness. Lately I have been helping a first grader with his homework. I had been noticing some things which I deem inappropriate for that grade level for some time now, and just recently noticed the worksheets had “Common Core” on them. For example, introducing fractions, including addition and subtraction of fractions in the 1st grade. This wouldn't be a problem if the student already fully comprehended basic addition and subtraction and had his basic math facts down without having to resort to finger counting. Math is foundational. It builds upon itself. It seem a huge mistake to me to move on to a higher more complicated areas of math when one doesn't fully understand the basics. Something else I see is a complicated use of terms. For example, on one of the worksheets it showed a picture of a circle. The directions said, “Circle the defining attribute of the shape”. First of all, “defining attribute”? How many kids understand what that means? Very few, I am sure! This student certainly did not, even though it had probably been talked about in class. BTW, the correct answer was not that the shape was round. The correct answer was that the shape did not have any lines. Now what are the chances that most adults would give that answer, yet this is the answer expected of 1st graders. Here is another example of what I saw on this homework. The directions said, “Find the missing addend”. And no, although the meaning of this word was most likely explained in class, the student didn't have a clue what was meant. Or complicated word problems that contained over 40 words and required the student to not only process the words correctly but also complete several mathematical steps to correctly arrive at the answer.

Sure, there will be some 1st graders who would not have a problem doing these math problems. But I am afraid that this new curriculum will set up many more for failure. It is going to be a very destructive experiment on our nation's children, and the fact that private as well as public schools are adopting the curriculum does not bode well.

I wonder if this is what happened to my granddaughter who was enrolled in a Catholic school in VA? Her math scores declined so precipitously after 2 years in Catholic school that my daughter pulled her out and sent her back to public school even though my daughter is the music teacher in the Catholic school (very awkward.) To catch up, my granddaughter has had to spend a full year in Mathnasium, a 2 x per week math tutoring program at $200 per month.

My granddaughter tolerates Mathnasium, but doesn’t really like it. The interesting thing is that her Mathnasium classes are full of Asian students who go there “for fun”, not because they are behind in any way.