Common Core putting second graders through the paces

National standards are nothing new; they have been in place at least since the 1950s. However, what the Common Core standards are doing to curriculum can best be explained by Nancy Carlsson-Paige of New York in an email to Susan Ohanion:

"What is so fundamentally wrong with this Engage New York approach . . . is the focus on content and having facts and correct answers, a focus that requires a fact-based, didactic pedagogy for success. One where kids passively sit while teachers direct teach content that is irrelevant to them and disconnected from the ways that they learn."

You see, in New York City, the Common Core-based curriculum directs seven-year-olds to learn about the War of 1812.

Could any topic be more developmentally inappropriate for second graders? As Susan Ohanion states it, "Not one American in 100,000 knows what the war was about, and most adults are busy on Social Media, working multiple jobs to pay their mortgage."

Here are just a few of the many Core Content Objectives for the War of 1812 for Grade 2:

Explain that America fought Great Britain for independence

Explain that the Founding Fathers wrote the Constitution

Explain that Thomas Jefferson purchased the Louisiana Territory from the French

Explain that Great Britain became involved in a series of wars against France

Explain that due to a shortage of sailors, Britain began to impress, or capture, American sailors

And so on. Note that the way to make the use of fact after fact "Common Core" is to put "Explain" in the directions.

It is hard to believe that anybody could be serious about inflicting this on second graders. But in our current approach to education reform, this is where we are.

Duane Pitts is a retired English teacher now living in Moses Lake. He taught English for 42 years - eight years in Valdosta, Ga; two years in Colfax; and 32 years in Odessa. As a retiree, he serving as a facilitator by helping teachers and principals learn about the new state teacher-principal evaluation project.