Local News Airs ‘Homework Helper’ Videos for Parents Struggling With Common Core Requirements

“When you and I were in school, we used to just memorize 9 plus 6 equals 15. Not anymore. With the Common Core, students need to understand why that’s the case.”

It took a teacher 56 seconds to explain how to add 9 plus 6.

This is the introduction to the first of six “Homework Helper” segments Buffalo, N.Y., NBC affiliate WGRZ is broadcasting this week in honor of back-to-school week. The series is meant to be a helpful tool for parents confused by their children’s Common Core homework this year.

>>> Related: What’s in Common Core National Standards?

Each morning, a local math teacher takes one simple homework question, and spends a few minutes explaining the methodology required to solve it. Each lesson takes a little over one minute for the teacher to explain.

But here’s the irony: the one-minute lessons are explaining long processes for simple problems like 9 plus 6 — math that took children a few seconds to solve before Common Core standards.

Common Core standards (like them or not) are foreign to everyone. Check out how Common Core wants children to do basic addition and subtraction in the videos below.

Basic Addition:

Basic Subtraction:

>>> Read More: Teacher Support of Common Core Drops Dramatically