The Common Core Standards Initiative, adopted in many states
in the last decade, has been criticized for turning formerly simple and
well-known approaches to math that have been employed for centuries into
Kafkaesque problems whose very existence causes mental anguish among not just
the poor students subject to mastering them, but to their hapless parents as
well.
Instead of performing a simple arithmetic task —
subtraction, say — by subtracting the smaller number from the larger one,
students now have to break the numbers up into chunks and draw squares and put
them all back together again to produce the answer. It takes far longer, defies
logic, and is more likely to result in a wrong answer.
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| 14? Right? |
I can speak from personal experience; my fifth-grader, who has
a natural affinity for math, can often be found in tears when confronted by the
need to do his homework the way the teacher insists, rather than just getting
the right answers. I cannot explain to him why he needs to do this. I shrug and
we do the problems the old-school way.
In the spirit of the Common Core, I would like to illustrate
this with a Glazed Ham Ring from 1969.
Imagine the math problem as a pig. A delicious pig. Think of
all the lovely ways you could eat this pig: pork chops; ham; bacon; barbecued
ribs; slow roasted shoulder; pulled pork sandwich; sausages; crackling. All are
relatively simple in that the pig is broken down into various parts and cooked,
and then served. The parts still look like they came from an animal on the
serving platter, and indeed, on your plate.
Now imagine taking some of this wonderful pig and grinding
some of it into a pink mush. Mix the mush with bread, eggs, and onion. Take
this mush and form it into a ring mold. Invert the oiled mold onto a baking
tray and bake. Afterwards, cover it in a bright red glaze, and fill the hole in
the middle with a mixture of half-peeled potatoes, peas, and cream. Serve with
red apples and a generous helping of parsley.
Write a word problem for this pig that takes into account
having turned all the ingredients for this dish into spheres. Then, solve the
problem, showing your work. Use a #2 pencil.
Congratulations: according to the Common Core, you are now
ready to apply your knowledge in the workplace.
Meat Cook Book,
Better Homes and Gardens, 1969
Also from this book: Kitchen Nightmares