Yes, Val, his examples are exactly how those topics were covered. The fraction examples in particular could have been straight from their materials.

I do think our school is an outlier, though. I still don't really understand why, but they began common core implementation much earlier than other NY schools, it seems. The kids were ready for the new assessments, and overall did quite well (tiny brag- both my kids, while good at math but not math-lovers, got perfect scores). But the real news, in my opinion, is that many of the kids seem to be learning it and learning it well.

Disclaimer- one big downside, (which I assume is related to the common core implementation, though not sure) is that the district does not accelerate or skip, until 8th grade. The "accelerated" class my 8th grader has been waiting for years for, a high-school credit regents class which supposedly covers about 2 years of material, is still agonizingly slow for her (and almost half the students are in this accelerated class). And she has an A+ average without studying, etc.- a real disappointment; we are hoping but not optimistic that by the time DS gets there things may change.

Last edited by cricket3; 10/26/13 06:17 PM. Reason: Clarification