At Considerable Cost

Common Core: What Is It? There are SO many articles and videos warning people of the dangers of the Common Core State Standards Initiative, or CCSSI .   That's right, that's the official name: it's Standards, not Curriculum.   Standards are a part of a curriculum.   They simply state what each student should be able to demonstrate, with mastery, by the end of a school year.   Standards are important as they guide curriculum and the instruction in classrooms. There are currently Standards for Mathematics and Language Arts, Kindergarten through Grade 12 and they are all available for inspection on the official CCSSI website: http://www.corestandards.org/ For example, in Mathematics, there are Standards for Mathematical Practice , which are the general  "varieties of expertise that mathematics educators at all levels should seek to develop in their students..."   These Standards are to be developed across all grad...

In my earlier post about our children going to public school after home schooling exclusively, I shared our  first day experiences in my usual voice.   At the same time, I was working on this post.   This is a more matter-of-fact post that lays out our personal experiences in a very cut-and-dry manner.   That wasn't my mood last week, but now I am ready to re-visit the topic. Our Reasons for Choosing to Home school:   From my classroom experience and research, I understand that American public schools, with the best of intentions, teach too many topics, too early.   It is overwhelming to look at the amount of objectives (those specific skills/tasks you want children to master) at each grade level.   For example, I still firmly believe--and this is shared by experts who know more than me--that the math topic, re-grouping ("borrowing" from old school days), should be introduced in third grade.   In most states, it is always i...

  As long as I can remember I wanted to be a teacher and a mommy.   When I was a child, I tried to teach our dog to read.   Any given afternoon, you could find me at my little chalkboard, with my dolls lined up in a row.   When friends came over, I was the teacher and even sent them home with homework.   I used to decorate my room like a classroom, including changing my door decor according to the the holidays or seasons. Some of my high school teachers were disappointed in my decision to go into education.  I remember one who just shook his head, and walked away, saying, "What a waste."  While at college, several English professors tried to lure me to the English department, but I was steadfast in my decision to teach.   Upon graduation, my first teaching job was a dream job, particularly well-suited for a wide-eyed, idealistic first-year teacher.   I taught Exploratory Math at a middle school in south Louisia...