I am concerned about the implementation of the common core. And I am finding out, I am not the only one. My son fell below grade level for the first time in his life. He is in 3rd grade and not doing well in math. We have enrolled him in a private math company to help him learn the basic math skills that his school did not cover. (By the way, this program knows that kids come back after school to do math when math is fun.) And we met two other of his classmates at this same organization, all there for the same thing. And in another group of friends the mom's have asked me if I wanted to "go in" to get a tutor to help their kids who are also struggling in math. Even one of the teachers at his school suggested the mom's start a math club after school. Really?
I feel that the so called "experts" and writers of the Common Core wanted to bump up the rigor of the USA curriculum...what they forgot was that kids have developmental needs, which include the development of the areas in their brain that allows them to process information. The frontal lobe which is required for logical higher level processing is not even fully developed until the mid twenties. I think the "experts" forgot that their are education specialists that understand what and how kids develop and learn. How can our 3rd graders be able to process this new set of information. Especially when the foundations of math were not even laid firmly.
My personal belief is that the Common Core math program is giving them information that is not within their developmental abilities. It feels oppressive. Plus, there are big gaps from the instruction my son has had in the last two years and now what is being expected of him to perform. And if the "experts" think that this is going to raise the test scores...guess again. My son and many of these 3rd graders are thinking that they are not good in math. Their confidence is being destroyed. And I am crushed by my observation of his diminished love for learning due to this program which has no statistical evidence that it will make our kids race to the top.
The mom's I am talking with have the same concerns. What are we to do? Currently we are being told that we do not understand the Common Core and that we are afraid of change. All I have to say is "Really?" Do you really think that I do not understand how to educated my son? I could do it on my own. I don't want to as I do believe there are expert teachers out there in our public schools who could do better, left alone, without the Common Core!
Check out this blog. Advice to a Mother about the Common Core
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