A copy of the email I sent to the school principal and asst. principal. I also copied Rick Scott (Florida Governor)...
Dear Ms. ***/Ms. ***:
Yesterday, as I sat down with my son to work with him through his math homework, I was a bit distressed when I saw what was being asked of him. I have to imagine you've heard these stories before, complete with parents indicating their credentials, but here is another one.
The homework asked for "Find the Doubles plus Fact". It showed, for example, a 7+_ = 15 problem. **** knew right away to write in "8", but then it asked for __ + __ + __ after the problem. We were both perplexed. I am the SFO for a $2B regional business here in Tampa. I have my Masters in Statistics and my undergrad in Finance. I will admit that I had to google to understand what the heck this was asking. When I figured out it was trying to get him to split the "8" into a "7+1", his reply was not only heartfelt, but it broke my heart to hear it. "Daddy, why can't I just write 7+8=15" like you taught me?
My reply was "because that only works in the real world. School does it different." I honestly don't know what else to say as an answer. That method is absurd.
The paper was full of this nonsense.
Even worse was the discussion at the bus stop today with other parents. Moms and dads complaining that their children are crying over homework because it doesn't make sense, and they (the parents) are at a loss as to why kids are being made to do this. Furthermore, they claim that kids are failing tests because testing is done via the old (and sane) method we learned at school when we were kids, and homework and teaching is the Common Core version.
Now, I'm not going to get all political in this email because I know that you folks are being given this and you have to push it down. It's certainly not Mr. ****'s fault. But the one good thing that came out of this homework assignment is my change from the state of ambivalence on Common Core to one of open opposition now that I have seen, first hand, what a disaster it is. I'll be forwarding this letter to the Governor (for all the good it will do) and becoming an activist against what is quite obviously a disaster in the making.
I will also continue to coach my child in the manner in which we all learned math - which has worked just fine for those who applied themselves in the past. Homework will be done, but it will be an exercise in silliness.
Thank you for listening to me rant, and for your time.
**** *****