Common Core Harmful to Little Children

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Child Psychologist: “Common Core Harmful to Little Children” Resisting the Transformational Tactics in Our Schools By Donna Garner ~ September 9, 2013

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This
YouTube really is a “MUST SEE.” It will be the fastest 25 minutes you have
ever spent.

On 9.9.13, Dr. Megan Koschnick spoke at a Common Core
Standards conference held at Notre Dame. The conference was sponsored by the
American Principles Project. 

Dr. Koschnick is a child clinical
psychologist and explained her deep concerns that the Common Core Standards
are developmentally inappropriate for young children and could do
psychological damage to little children.

Her presentation is highly engaging because she gives
frequent real-life examples from real children as to how their brains
function and what normal reactions are. She has a kindergarten child of her
own.

LINK
TO YOUTUBE —

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrQbJlmVJZo&feature=youtu.be

 

WRITTEN
SUMMARY OF PRESENTATION

“Dr. Koschnick questioned
the developmentally inappropriate standards written by the Common Core
Standards Committee who evidently looked at what adult students need to
know to be college and/or workplace ready and then worked backwards writing
the standards going from 12^th grade on down to Kindergarten. 
[This is the exact opposite of the way the human body develops which
develops from the part to the whole.” – Donna Garner]

Dr. Koschnick pointed out
that older students can think abstractly, but to assume that little children
can do the same thing is developmentally inappropriate.  To ask a little
child to analyze and think logically is impossible.  They are concrete
thinkers at that age.

 

For instance, Dr. Koschnick
pointed out that the CCS require Kindergarten students to “reason
abstractly.”  Children like concrete operations – no abstractions. 
“Explain, justify, and apply principles” are abstract in nature.  Under the
CCS, it will no longer be enough for a child to know that  7 minus 3 is 4,
but the Kindergarten child will have to “explain and justify” how he came
up with that answer (e.g., inverse property of mathematics, an abstract
principle).  

 

It is also impossible for a
little child to reflect or think about their thinking.  They do not
understand empathy.  Children are also only semi-logical, and they routinely
confuse reality and fantasy.

 

Expecting little children
to do things that are developmentally inappropriate will create great stress
in them.  Measuring students against inappropriate standards will cause
teachers to report students as being abnormal when in reality, it is the
standards that are at fault.  

 

EXAMPLES
FROM COMMON CORE
STANDARDS

 

GRADE 3 —
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.3.5c – “Distinguish shades of meaning among related
words that describe states of mind or degrees of certainty (e.g., knew,
believe, suspected, heard, and wondered).” 

 

Dr. Koschnick explained
that this is developmentally inappropriate for young children because they
do not think abstractly until much later in life.  They do not grasp their
state of mind, other people’s states of mind, or the nuances of words.  They
do not know the  differences between “knew” and “believe.”  What will happen
when a student is tested on a CCS assessment that contains these abstract
and developmentally inappropriate questions?  

 

 

KINDERGARTEN –
CCSS.Math.Content.K.OA.A.5 – “Fluently add and subtract within 5.” 
Kindergarten students are in the pre-operational stage and do not yet know
how to change things.  By around the second half of Grade 1, children would
be much more able to do this.  CCS pushes down onto the lower grades some of
the “heavy” skills during the time that they should be learning more basic
skills.

 

SIDEBAR: Dr. Koschnick
pointed out that brain scans (MRI’s) done on Grade 12 students doing math
facts showed that those who had memorized them fluently actually have
developed a different part of the brain which then allows another part of
the brain to be free to do more complicated math computations.  In other
words, students who have not learned their math facts to the
fluency/automaticity stage are limited in their abilities to do higher level
thinking.

 

 

Dr. Koschnick explained
that Kindergarten children should be learning to be independent and
competent.  They should learn to exhibit mastery of simple tasks and allow
their creativity to develop. Instead, the CCS social and emotional goals are
developmentally inappropriate.

 

SOCIAL
AND EMOTIONAL CCS
GOALS

 

KINDERGARTEN – CCS — “With
guidance and support from adults, respond to questions and suggestions from
peers and add details to strengthen writing as needed.” 

 

Instead of stressing
independence, this Kindergarten CCS makes students dependent on the group at
a writing table. Because no research has been done on the effects of the CCS
and none is cited in the standards, no one really knows the emotional
effects they will have on little children.  The Kindergarten CCS moves
children into a loss of creativity and into a pattern of conformity.  This
will cause them to get frustrated because they are internally motivated to
be independent. By requiring K children to be dependent on the “group,” this
will most likely create conflicts out on the playground and lots of tears of
frustration.

 

KINDERGARTEN – CCS —
“Speak audibly and express thoughts, feelings, and ideas clearly.” Dr.
Koschnick
said this CCS is meant to create “little board
members” of children who are not yet capable of adult exchanges.  

 

GRADE 2 – CCS —  “Follow
agreed-upon rules for discussions (e.g., gaining the floor in respectful
ways, listening to others with care, speaking one at a time about the topics
and texts under discussion.)”

 

The audience broke into
laughter when Dr. Koschnick explained that teachers already wear many hats;
but that under CCS, “Teachers will have to wear yet another hat and that
will be the hat of a magician…They [teachers] would have to sit down and get
little children to do things that we cannot get adults to do.”  How could
little children learn to “hold a board meeting”? 

 

Dr. Koschnick said she had
looked at the makeup of the CCS committee and found no early childhood
educators (Pre-K and K), no child development experts, no psychologists, no
pediatricians, and no neuropsychologists.

 

Dr. Koschnick concluded her
presentation by displaying an example of the type of standards from other
disciplines. She chose one from the American Academy of Child and Adolescent
Psychiatry that showed each step or phase is guided by scientific research,
contains a citation, has been published in academic journals, and has been
peer reviewed.

 

Dr. Koschnick ended by
saying, “Surely you would think that academic standards for a nation of
children would be based upon research…we do not want children to be little
guinea pigs or experiments or mice…”

 

*I listened to Dr.
Koschnick’s presentation and have tried to transcribe it as accurately as I
could. – Donna Garner

 

Donna Garner

Wgarner1@hot.rr.com

---

Part 3:
Common Core: Who Will Rule the
Global Schools?

Part 1:
The Global Roots of “Common
Core” Education

Part 2:
The
Rising Force behind “Common Core” Indoctrination

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