Kids React to Common Core: 'Mommy, Please Home-School Me'
Another day of school, another Common Core horror story. Parents in Royal Palm Beach, Florida complained to administrators that their children are languishing under Core-aligned instruction and standardized testing. One parent reported that her third-grade son comes home from school every day thinking he is stupid because he can't pass his tests. "Mommy, please home-school me," he begged, according to The Palm Beach Post.
Lest anyone assume the kid is the problem, keep in mind that some teachers don't even have access to textbooks that are aligned to the required tests, according to statements made by a teacher at the parents meeting last week. (Note: This is a common occurrence.)
The test themselves are wholly computerized, which presents a problem for the kindergartners required to take them:
Hours to prep for computerized testing of kindergartners. "I watched a student suffer for over an hour. They had no idea how to work the computer mouse." Five teachers, working one-on-one with students got only 10 of 120 students done in one school day. "That night I went home and cried." – Chris White, teacher at a Title 1 elementary school
Children don't know the language – what's 'drag and drop' to a child who's not worked on a computer? . The books were designed to go with one test, we're using another. – Karla Yurick, 5th grade math teacher
I can understand the desire to impose some amount of standardized testing on schoolchildren for the purposes of measuring teacher effectiveness. But there comes a point where the insanity of computerized exams for five-year-olds trumps any legitimate interest taxpayers may have in holding teachers accountable for their students' progress.
The best that can be said for Common Core is that it encourages home-schooling.
Hat tip: Eric Owens / The Daily Caller
