What’s So Wrong with Common Core?

Common Core State Standards (CCSS) are a hot topic in the education world: public, private and homeschool. Basically, CCSS are a list of what students should be able to master by grade and subject. They have been adopted as the standards used by a large majority of states in exchange for those states being eligible for federal funds.

There are questions and problems with CCSS that won’t affect homeschool families, such as getting all children up to speed, transitioning standardized tests for multiple grades, and training teachers. The questions that apply to homeschool families are:

1.       Do these standards encompass what we want our children to learn?
2.       If we don’t following these standards, will our children be at a disadvantage later?

For the first question, I decided that, yes, my child should be able to master the aspects of the CCSS. They have a heavy emphasis on analytical thinking, which is a skill he will need throughout life. There is nothing in the CCSS that I do not want my child to learn. However, there are also other skills and knowledge that he should have, in my opinion, that are not included in the CCSS.  So, I included the CCSS with a heavy dose of other topics and skills.

For the second question – will my child be at a disadvantage if we didn’t include the CCSS – I had to look at the bigger picture of what’s happening in education outside our little school. The college entrance exams are already talking of aligning their tests to the CCSS. Plus, if my son returns to public school, he’ll need to know what his peers know. More knowledge is always ok, but missing something could be problematic.

As more homeschool curriculum options align with the CCSS, it will become harder to find supplementary or alternative lessons. Hopefully, we will still be able (and allowed) to find ways of expand our children’s education past the basics made for everyone.