I have to tell you, I’m 65 years old and I’m pretty darn good with math. Always have been. In my day I used to get marked down because I didn’t always show my work. I got the answer right, but was marked down for not showing my work. Even at an early age I would challenge my teachers about this. I would ask, “Why do I need to show my work?” They would tell me that they needed to see my work to know I understood the problem. I would tell them that I though getting the answer right was a pretty good indicator that I knew how to solve the problem.

All you need to do is teach a kid how math works If you simply teach a child how math works you teach them to think. If they can learn how to think, they will always be able to figure things our for themselves. The successful people in this world are the people who know how to think and solve problems. Those are the skills of life. I never went to college. I worked for a living. Don’t feel bad for me. I retired early debt free so I’m doing OK. That said, both of my children went to Kindergarten already able to read and write and do math. They both graduated from college with honors and are both successful adults working in their chosen fields.

School isn’t complicated. Think about it, if you make learning easy, every child has a chance to succeed. Nothing I have ever read, or heard about common core leads me to believe that’s a way of making learning easy. I am so glad this came about after my kids were in school, or I’m pretty sure I would still be doing time. ~ Bernie