Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion struggles with Core Curriculum

I'm not sure at this point if there is anything I can do other than just help him as much as I can and hope next year is better for him :-(

Ah, we have the joy of Common Core COMBINED with Everyday Math at our schools. The problem isn't the textbooks, either - our schools are still trying to decide which textbooks to use. I do give them a great deal of credit for not buying the first books they see with "Common Core" stamped on it. Still, their interpretation of the Common Core is that NO ACCELERATION should take place in math before 7th grade. Even with the gifted students. So the gifted students are instead going at the pace of the regular classes, but it is supposed to be at a deeper level. This might work for some, but so far, it is too slow for my DYS DC. Both if my DC feel as though they are doing "review" of concepts that they already understand rather well in math class. I've realized that this interpretation of Common Core is pushing the issue to the fore: my kiddos might need acceleration.

From talking to parents of other gifted students, my DC are not alone. It is actually the students that love math I am most concerned for - and DS, up until this year, was one of them. I hate to see his enthusiasm dampened so soon. But I am nervously watching this unfold, and it is making me very uncomfortable.

DS hit that box method on Khan Academy a while back and he hated it...it made him not want to do Khan Academy. I can see showing the kids a few problems like that so they can see how it works, but then it's time to move on.

Dd has been doing double digit multiplication for 3 weeks now. He does the problems in his head and can show his work using the traditional way. He has already mastered it but per his teacher until he masters it using common core he's stuck. He has now given up :-(

This is exactly it.

I am glad ds11 came to terms with (show your work) early on. It seems he has a deeper understanding now then he otherwise would have. I know its a pain but I do not get the you shouldn't have to show your work take on math. It sure helps you move ahead when you jump into a “rigorous” stage of math work, especially at a younger ages.

I very well could be wrong but it seems to be clicking for my ds who has always been a math kid and totally hated showing his work on the easy stuff.

While I do see a benefit to showing work, should a student who can add and subtract multi-digit numbers with carrying in his head, and who is already fairly proficient in multiplication and division have to REPEATEDLY draw and write out the explanation for how he correctly added single-digit numbers...for some months now? That is where I am concerned.

That's my concern too. Plus when he does show his work it is so hard to read he actually gets the answer wrong and becomes frustrated. We bought graph paper to see if that helps keep his numbers aligned. Showing your work so teachers know you got it is one thing. ..forcing a child to now relearn it another way is frustrating.

Possibly you were already thinking of this, but in the "help him as much as I can" category, you might wish to consider:

- Participating in any outside math extracurricular, such as math club, math competition, or math afterschooling at home which helps your child develop his math identity and enjoy math his way. Out-of-school time (OST) and expanded-opportunity programs help maintain a healthy balance in life and are sometimes called Positive Youth Development (PYD).

- Having a frank discussion that you believe education ought to be a buffet with many things offered, from which a student may sample and choose what is beneficial.

- Documenting personal anecdotes at home, for possible future advocacy efforts.

You are right - I agree that "show your work" is a good concept. The problem arises when it's coupled with math that's too easy, and the requirement many are describing here to use painfully convoluted methods to get to simple places. So on simple problems where DS can simply "see" the answer, "show your work means "go back after the fact and artificially insert a long, circuitous pile of steps you didn't actually use to satisfy an arbitrary process". Time to do math problem: 5 seconds. Time to write out invented process: 15 minutes. Time to provided written explanation in complete sentences: 30 minutes.

What I would like to see is if a teacher wants work shown, they need to ask a question that requires actual work to get to the answer (and that doesn't mean just add more digits to the question!).

In contrast to these problems at school, at home DS has not balked at all on his weekly AoPS problem that must be submitted as a full-detail "proof", with complete sentences. These are complex problems, and he enjoys writing them up (caveat: I scribe for him) in the form of "how would I show my friend T how to do this problem?" I think it's marvellous that AoPS requires them to learn how to provide coherent explanations of how they solve problems, and he is learning a ton from having to do this.

I'm at a loss with no idea what to do. He gets frustrated when he's told show your work and then shuts down for the rest of the day. When he does his math homework at home he does the problem in his head and gets the right answer. But when he's told to show his work using any method he wants he gets frustrated. He is now failing 4th grade and doesn't seem to care about school.