Today’s Math Thoughts About Common Core Homework

One of my former tutoring students posted this recently on Instagram as some homework that they are currently being given at the end of Grade Six (age 11-12).  His comment was about hating homework.

Thank goodness I did not have to teach in this manner when I taught in an overseas American School.   About three years ago (well after I left and started a tutoring business), the school I taught in revamped to the new “Common Core” curriculum, which apparently de-emphasizes calculations, and where students are required to spend more than 50% of their time explaining reasons why things are done–in English words.  Yet, many students are still unable to add, subtract, multiply, or divide correctly, even by the end of elementary school.

In my own 30 years’ experience teaching–it’s not that I OBJECT to students knowing the reason why something will work–however,  my personal conclusion is that many students have trouble in primary math because of:

1.  Brain maturation issues.  A few students can master time and problems with time, place value and what each place means relative to each other, etc., at the time it is first taught (age 7); but most are not able to really get it until about age 10, no matter how much time is spent on these subjects at a younger age.

2.  Needing individualized help.  Some students need what seem like simple processes broken down into much smaller steps; followed by putting those smaller steps back together, to get to mastery.  One teacher in a full classroom may have time difficulties doing this for students who need this extra help.

3.   Concrete vs. abstract thinking.  Young students are mostly concrete thinkers who do better at younger ages (in my opinion) with concrete math tasks.  The worksheets like in the picture above now start in Grade 2 (age 7).   Some students just don’t have the abstract thinking abilities required for these tasks at this age; in some cases, they don’t have the language ability in English, if they speak more than one language (as all students in overseas schools do).

What do others think of this sort of homework?

–Lynne Diligent