Common Core Standards For Parents For Dummies

The scope of the book is everything related to Common Core from Kindergarten to Twelfth grade. Before buying the book, however, I was initially concerned that trying to cover all grades in a single volume would spread the content too thin, making it bland and mostly uninformative. Instead, I now think it was a smart decision because I realized that one of my main questions about Common Core was "where are we headed?". By providing clear descriptions of the post high school graduation achievement goals, as well as the expectations for each grade level, I now have a much clearer navigational road map.If you're already a fan of the "... For Dummies" books like I am, then you already know that they generally have very good track record of combining a good high-level overview with just the right balance of concrete detail, and are well enough organized to allow readers to skip around or otherwise find all of the content they need while avoiding the stuff they're not interested in. In terms of detail, I thought that the differentiations between grade levels were really quite helpful such as the following on standards for "Speaking and Listening": "First grade: students should demonstrate active listening skills, ask questions, and able to use comments made by others in their own remarks." versus "Second grade: students continue to use comments made by others in their own remarks, but they also connect statements made by one student to something said by another student." Without these examples of clear criteria, educational standards on "Speaking and Listening" seemed likely to be too subjective, and of questionable value to the layman like me. In my opinion, these clarifications were of greatest value in the ELA (English and Language Arts) standards, because I've long thought based on my own experience that criteria for language arts were so vague that a student might in one sense do a great job, but not meet the teacher's expectations because he or she didn't adequately communicate how the work would be assessed. The mathematics standards descriptions were helpful too though, because since my daughters 1st grade work seemed so advanced to me, I was wondering when and how higher level math concepts, such as multiplication, division, and fractions would be introduced. Now, I know. That helps me both by setting me at ease to know that there is a logical plan that I can understand, and also I can now tailor my evening tutoring to better align with the Common Core outline.All in all, for me this was a great book. It covered a topic which I am very acutely interested in, i.e., my kids' future education, within a succinct, sufficiently complete and well organized text. In addition to preparing my daughter for second grade this fall, I will also be able to refer back to the book in future when my son begins Kindergarten next fall, and again for any future school year. This book was definitely worth a small amount of my time and money. I'm sure you'll appreciate it. Enjoy!

As a parent, I've had several questions and misgivings about common core, so I've been reading everything I could get my hands on. This book does the best job so far of putting this initiative in wording that I can understand (as someone who has never worked in education.). I'm only half way through the book, but I already feel much more at ease and have a clearer understanding of why we needed these standards and where they came from. Looking forward to finishing.

No matter where you stand on the implementation of Common Core Standards, you should not make an 'educated' opinion without reading this book first. The author does a fabulous job at showing the history of national standards (which is a longer history than most people think), but also takes the standards down to the student level. Much of the CCSS information out there is truly difficult to understand which sometimes breeds negativity. This book is simple, but extensive. It is clear, but all encompassing, To have a book that is helpful to district leaders, administrators, teachers, parents, and students is an amazing accomplishment. Please also note that this review is from someone who has purchased and read the book.

I just received my copy and was very disappointed in it. Has to be one of the poorest For Dummies book I've seen. Most, if not all, of the material can be found on the Common Core website. Very few concrete examples provided except for the high school portion. When the book uses phrases such as have your child read something interesting without defining what interesting means you know you'll be wasting your time doing much more than a cursory review of the book. Even that will be a waste as the book appears to be cheerleading for the Common Core rather than a critical analysis of what it is, how it works, and why they're being implemented.

Almost everything in the book is goobly gook and is usually less than helpful. I bought two copies and gave one copy to my granddaughter. Her opinion is about the same as mine. Both copies now have been retired to our respective bookcases. She can almost always get the correct answer but she struggles with the method, as I do.

very small book. I didnt read the dimensions

ok, easy to read

As an elementary school administrator, I found this book to be a great resource for parents AND for teachers. It's written using a minimal amount of educational terminology that many people don't understand. Our parents love that the information is divided up into grade levels and provides specific information about helping children be successful.