By Vicki Little
Common Core. Those two simple words can cause a shudder for parents and children alike. It used to be that parents could easily help kids with their math homework, perhaps after a brief refresher on the topic. Now parents are finding that in order to help children with math, they may need to take a class themselves. It is hard to justify and support what you don’t understand, and even harder to answer the question of “why do I have to learn this?” if you don’t know the answer yourself. Fortunately, we found these five resources to help parents understand Common Core Math.
1. Your child’s school and teachers. This should be the first place you start. Many teachers have information sheets for each unit of study that will guide you through what your child is learning, why and how they are learning it, and how you can help. Don’t be afraid to email the teacher to ask for extra help. You will save them the hassle of re-explaining the problem to your child if you help them incorrectly.
2. Common Core Works offers detailed information by grade on what your children will be learning and expected to know, complete with examples.
3. Greatminds.net is a great resource that offers parents tips on how to teach their children the math standards at home. The tips are broken down into the modules schools use for each grade.
4. Achieve the Core. This website includes information on Common Core standards for each state, resource guides, and road maps for different Common Core subjects. There are answers to frequently asked questions. You can also find mini-assessments and lessons.
5. Commoncorestandards.org. The orange box on the right-hand side of the screen has what your child will be learning, broken down by grade.
Have you figured out Common Core math yet?
Vicki Little is a work-at-home mom with two young kids. A Colorado native, she is the Publisher and Editor of Macaroni Kid Aurora and Downtown Denver. In her free time, she enjoys volunteering, reading, camping, or enjoying a bottle of wine with friends.
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Suzanne
October 1, 2015 @ 9:14 am
Such great tips!!! I will for sure be using these!
Jeff
October 9, 2018 @ 7:50 am
Common Core was introduced and my daughter fell 1 year behind in math after 2 years. After some research, I was able to find a way to take my daughter from one year behind to one year behind. I wrote about it in my new book called Getting Great Grades. You can find out more on my website GettingGreatGrades.com.