Just Because You Don't Understand It, Doesn't Mean It's Wrong

Breaking numbers up into more manageable
 chunks and visualizing numbers as seen in the
number line can be beneficial to many
 types of learners

Inevitably, I've been thinking a lot about Common Core State Standards lately, especially those related to math. I have recently taken over math at my student teaching placement and my brain is constantly buzzing with thoughts about how to reach the students who just don't get it. Math is a tricky subject. Many students walk around with a fear of it and a resistance to learning it. Math has historically been a  subject where students either get it or they don't and that is a shame.


I think we can all agree that math is important. Math is the foundation for so many different subjects and life skills that students need to get it. Math is a fundamental part of science and society. Students need to have a concept of money value and elapsed time in order to be productive members of the community.

The recent shift to Common Core has left many parents baffled at how math is being taught. The loudest critics of Common Core believe that it is making math unnecessarily complicated, but what does the mean? Many parents today complain that they are unable to help their child with math homework because of the new methods used in teaching mathematics.

I want to address the claim that Common Core makes math "unnecessarily complicated." I think people have a tendency to write of things that are unfamiliar and that they don't understand as complicated.As a new method of education the Common Core method is undoubtedly unfamiliar to most parents. That however, does not make it more complicated. In fact, Common Core breaks down math into chunks to make it easier. Well it may be more steps because of this, it is not more difficult.

Historically, math, especially in younger years, has been a simple subject. Ideally, you plug in numbers into a standard algorithm and out comes your answers. No questions where asked, no thinking was challenged and math was simply robotic. The focus was on getting the correct answer, not what it meant or how you got there.

Check written using Base-Ten Symbols. Base-ten symbols give
students a concrete example of place value and why numbers are carried

Common Core math changes that perspective. No longer is math simply about reaching an answer but it is about how we got there. On any given problem students are required to show their work using not only one but two strategies. The program faces criticisms because of this. Many parents are left wondering why their student needs to know more than one method is the first one worked.Students draw numbers,jump around on number lines and chunk numbers into more manageable parts. Students get to choose they way that works best for them.

Common Core math is beneficial because it allows for a greater range of differentiation. Students learn in different ways and Common Core caters to that. Some students may be fine using a standard algorithm to solve an addition problem using the standard algorithm but others may struggle to do so. Students may now visualize numbers using base-ten pieces (a way of representing place value) or by seeing where it is on a number line. Every student learns in a unique way and schools are now starting to recognize that math needs to be taught in more than one way.


So maybe you don't get the boxes lines and dots that now represent numbers on your child's math homework, that is okay. But just because you don't understand it, doesn't mean it is wrong. Maybe take that time you spend criticizing the new models for math instruction and educate yourself. Educate yourself on what those symbols represent, Educate yourself on how your child learns best and how you can accommodate their learning style in your home. Know that just because you were taught something a certain way doesn't mean it is the correct way. Let your child learn in the way that works best for them and watch them thrive.