{"id":3156,"date":"2014-02-13T08:18:24","date_gmt":"2014-02-13T13:18:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/?p=3156"},"modified":"2016-01-18T20:38:04","modified_gmt":"2016-01-19T01:38:04","slug":"3156","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/2014\/02\/13\/3156\/","title":{"rendered":"UnMastering Math"},"content":{"rendered":"

Math.\u00a0 Ugh.\u00a0 What used to be the bane of most students\u2019 existence is now becoming the bane of most parents\u2019 existence.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 Common Core.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019m sure you\u2019ve heard the debate about common core, but unless you have a child experiencing it, I doubt you have a full grasp of the ridiculousness that is Common Core mathematics.\u00a0 The focus has become not on getting the correct answer but on the process of getting to that answer.\u00a0 Now, usually, I\u2019m all for\u00a0process over product<\/a>, but the thing about math is: There is only 1 right answer.\u00a0 2+2 will never be anything other than 4!\u00a0 And the problem with Common Core mathematics is there is no TIME to teach the math facts like 2+2=4.\u00a0 (And I\u2019m not making that up, I heard it from the mouth of a teacher at Honeybun\u2019s school that they do not have TIME in their day to teach the math facts, that is the responsibility of the parent to do at home!)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But the problem with that is, I don\u2019t have the TIME at home to teach Honeybun the fact because I have to do the ridiculous Common Core workbook for homework.\u00a0 Case in point:\u00a0 yesterday, it took us 15 minutes of arguing, struggling and getting frustrated with each other (and the work) to answer ONE question.\u00a0 Here it is:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Teni has 16 berries. She has a number of berries two greater than Marta. Use cubes to model the sets of berries. Compare the sets. Which set is larger? Draw the cubes. Write how many in each set. Circle the greater number. Tell a friend how you compared the numbers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Umm, ok.\u00a0 My brain automatically knows that Marta has 14.\u00a0 But Honeybun\u2019s 5 year old brain doesn\u2019t know that because she hasn\u2019t learned her addition\/subtraction facts.\u00a0 So because we don\u2019t have cubes (note: nearly every question in her math HOMEWORK book requires the use of counters, cubes or tiles, none of which we own) we use legos.\u00a0 I have her count out 16 legos and we lay them out in a \u201cten frame\u201d (a modeling method the book uses to show 10s: 5 on top, 5 underneath).\u00a0 I reread her the question and ask her how she would model with the blocks how many Marta has.\u00a0 She adds 2.\u00a0 I explain that 14 (the original blocks) is how many TENI had and Teni has MORE than Marta, so how would she show how many Marta has?\u00a0 She tells me she needs to take away.\u00a0 Ok, cool.\u00a0 We\u2019ve got it.\u00a0 Nope, 10 minutes later and she still won\u2019t move two blocks away despite me reasking, rephrasing and rereading the question multiple times!\u00a0 I refuse to just give her the answer or tell her exactly what to do.\u00a0 FINALLY, she gets it and knows Marta has 14.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Now the drawing part.\u00a0 She\u2019s supposed to draw 16 \u201ccubes\u201d for Teni and 14 \u201ccubes\u201d for Marta.\u00a0 I know about these \u201ccubes\u201d (Unifix cubes, actually), they\u2019re about \u00be\u201d square (I looked it up!) and this is the space she was given to draw 30 cubes!:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"SONY<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

So, I\u2019m pretty good at math and a quick mental calculation told me there is NO WAY she can get 16\u00a0 cubes and 14 cubes in that box!\u00a0 So, as you can see we opted for \u201cberries\u201d instead since that\u2019s what the question asked anyways.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This is just one example of the Kindergarten math ridiculousness I\u2019ve been putting up with this year.\u00a0 This is what her math homework book looks like:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"SONY<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Most pages only have 2 or 3 questions and the focus is always on modeling the problem. She is required to count cubes and airplanes or draw counters and birds.\u00a0 And the back of almost every single page is 3 questions which are all fill in the bubble questions.\u00a0 Yes, I totally see how Common Core is reducing the problem of \u201cteaching to the test\u201d\u2026\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This is how I remember learning basic addition and subtraction (though my pages weren\u2019t nearly as colorful and didn\u2019t have princesses on them!\u00a0 This is a Basic Addition and Subtraction workbook I bought Honeybun at the dollar store to help her learn her facts which\u00a0 I then placed in\u00a0 page protectors so she can use a dry erase marker and do it over and over again):\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"SONY<\/p>\n

\u00a0I know rote memorization is not the best way to teach most things, but on something like addition and subtraction facts, a certain about of memorization is necessary.\u00a0 Because I was forced to learn my facts, I was easily able to learn and excel as trickier math.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t have to sit there and count on my fingers or use counters and cube trains.\u00a0 I knew that 2+2 is 4 so I could easily figure out that 12+2 is 14.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t need a ten frame to do basic addition.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

My frustration with the Common Core Mathematics curriculum comes from a concern for what my child is learning\u2014or more specifically, not learning.\u00a0 If I (a person who gets math and is good at math and in the right circumstances actually even likes math) am struggling with helping my child with this work, how is a parent who maybe isn\u2019t so confident in math going to help their child?<\/p>\n

NOTE: \u00a0Since writing this post, I have learned more about Common Core Mathematics and have changed my opinion. \u00a0Read more: Reconsidering Common Core<\/a>,\u00a0Confusing Common Core<\/a>, Continuing Common Core<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Math.\u00a0 Ugh.\u00a0 What used to be the bane of most students\u2019 existence is now becoming the bane of most parents\u2019 existence.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 Common Core.\u00a0\u00a0 I\u2019m sure you\u2019ve heard the debate about common core, but unless you have a child experiencing it, I doubt you have a full grasp of the ridiculousness that is Common Core […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[284],"tags":[86,83,77,84,85,87],"class_list":["post-3156","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-home-school-zone","tag-addition","tag-common-core","tag-kindergarten","tag-math","tag-school","tag-subtraction"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3156","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3156"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3156\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7549,"href":"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3156\/revisions\/7549"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3156"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3156"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3156"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}