Common Core: A closer look from a parent's perspective

If you’re a parent of an elementary student, you’ve no doubt experienced Common Core. According to the literature, Common Core is designed to prepare children for college, develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills and make them better able to compete and succeed in the global work environment. On the surface, it sounds great. Who wouldn’t want those things for their children? But when you take a closer look—when you live, learn and teach based on the Common Core Standards—you see a faulty system that threatens the very fabric of our educational programs and will impact the lives of future students, employees and teachers.

According to a Times Herald article by retired teacher Carol Seaver, “Common Core consists of uniform American education standards created by special interest groups and federal bureaucrats that treat children as “mere human capital” rather than as unique, creative individuals. It was developed by the National Governors Association, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Council of Chief State School Officers. There was no teacher, parent nor local school board input.”

At the heart of Common Core is testing—lots of it. These tests, which are supposed to assess students and show their progress, create frustration and force kids into a world where there is little time for creativity and exploration. Young children must sit for long periods of time on the computer to complete the tests. The questions are misleading, with more than one answer technically correct. And, many times, kids must make inferences from a passage they read in order to pick the “best” or “most true” answer. My own daughter, who is an excellent student, has complained that she gets very antsy and distracted during these tests. She even reported breaking several pencils in frustration and just picking any answer because she was too burned out to concentrate. Is that how we want our kids to feel about tests? We’re supposed to encourage them and provide a rich educational environment where they can thrive and feel confident about their skills. Common Core doesn’t accomplish this. Sitting for long periods of time taking a tedious, confusing test does nothing to develop a child’s skills or create a stimulating educational environment to foster growth and creativity. Wouldn’t this time be better spent in the classroom conducting experiments, brainstorming ideas and participating in hands-on learning activities?

But testing isn’t the only problem with Common Core. The standards also dictate the curriculum, which has become tedious and confusing as well. According to an article in the Washington Post, Common Core Standards “are not based on well-researched child development knowledge about how young children learn” and they “require young children to learn facts and skills for which they are not ready.”

Math in particular is no longer a matter of learning arithmetic and multiplication tables. Today’s students must perform a series of complex computations and use a variety of lengthy methods to get their answers. I’m not against learning various ways to solve a problem, but it’s unfair when the children learn through the commutative property that 4 x 5 = 5 x 4 and then later get a problem marked wrong for not writing the equation in the “proper” order.

On many occasions, my daughter has brought home math homework that I couldn’t immediately explain. I have even watched a YouTube video and consulted the Internet to figure out what is expected of her. Even my husband—who tutored math in college, has taken courses on differential equations and works as an engineer—can’t always explain how they want our daughter to solve a problem. Another relative, also an engineer, fears these complicated methods of learning will discourage kids from pursuing a career in engineering or other technical fields that require a lot of math.

Children deserve to be nurtured, encouraged and provided with plenty of opportunities to develop and enrich their minds. Common Core hinders this. Our kids are guinea pigs to standards that were never tested and are pressured to perform at the expense of their vital social and emotional development. They’re being deprived of their childhood with too much stress and too many tests. I don’t know about you, but it makes me sad to hear my 9-year-old say she’s “stressed out” or that she’s “not very good at math,” despite her A average.

Our children deserve better than this.

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For more information about Common Core, check out the following web sites, articles and videos.

• 6 reasons to reject Common Core K-3 standards — and 6 rules to guide policy
• 5 Reasons the Common Core is Ruining Childhood
• Senator Rand Paul speaks out on Common Core
• Stop Common Core in Michigan
• NY Teacher Speaks for Kids: Strongly Objects to Common Core Testing
• School superintendent writes ‘warning’ letter on PARCC Common Core test