CCSS – Aligned or Not?

Whether you are just starting or need to change something, the choices in curricula are overwhelming. There are some companies that seem to be very popular, Saxon, Life of Fred, Abeka, and the list goes on. In fact, there are so many that it’s hard to decide! Our family’s biggest challenge was finding curricula that was not aligned to Common Core, and not overly religious in one direction or another. It was easier to find where they stood theologically than it where they stood on Common Core. It seemed that every time we found one we thought we liked, it turns out it had either already aligned or there were plans in the works to align to CCSS. This is something we did not want, because the issues with CCSS are large and glaring – certainly not appropriate for our family.

Many families deciding to homeschool this year are doing so because they feel that the public school system is not providing the education they desire for their children. They are seeking resources that may or not be religious, but in many cases they are trying to avoid using Common Core aligned materials. There is help! Tina Hollenbeck of The Educational Freedom Coalition on Facebook has spent countless hours contacting companies to ask them what their stance on Common Core is. She has collected all of the responses on a new website with more resources to come at the Homeschool Resource Roadmap . This extensive listing of aligned and unaligned companies should help you narrow down your search.

Information about Common Core and its affects can be found in a wide variety of locations, here are a few:

Websites

Truth in American Education – http://truthinamericaneducation.com/
New Yorkers United for Kids – http://nyunited4kids.com/

Read the standards for yourself – http://www.corestandards.org/read-the-standards/

Government Documents

Promoting Grit, Tenacity and Perseverence(U.S. DOE)
Enhancing Teaching and Learning Through Educational Data Mining and Learning Analytics (U.S. DOE)

Video

Interview on WC TV – http://www.wctv.tv/home/headlines/Homeschooling-In-Reaction-To-Common-Core-Standards-265639641.html

Parents and Teachers on Common Core

5 Video Series on Common Core

Dr. Duke Pesta on Common Core

Glenn Beck on Common Core

Common Core Language Arts

Common Core Math

Articles

Why Common Core is All Wrong for High-Functioning Autistic Kids 

How Much Data is Being Mined From Our Kids? More than You Know.

Survey Shows Common Core Support Plummeting 

How the Common Core Lost Teacher Support – think all of the teachers support CCSS? Think again.

How Bill Gates Pulled off the Swift Common Core Revolution
http://m.washingtonpost.com/politics/how-bill-gates-pulled-off-the-swift-common-core-revolution/2014/06/07/a830e32e-ec34-11e3-9f5c-9075d5508f0a_story.html

Closing the Door on Innovation: Why One National Curriculum is Bad for America
A response to the Shankar Institute Manifesto and the U.S. Department of Education’s Initiative to Develop a National Curriculum and National Assessments Based on National Standards
http://www.k12innovation.com/Manifesto/_V2_Home.html

Colorado 6th Graders, Parents, Required To Take “Righty/Lefty” Survey
http://standupforthetruth.com/2013/10/colorado-6th-graders-parents-required-to-take-rightyleftysurvey/

Common Core: A Scheme to Rewrite Education
http://www.thenewamerican.com/culture/education/item/16192-common-core-a-scheme-to-rewrite-education

Pedophilia, Incest, and Graphic Sex: Excerpts from a Common Core Reading List Book for 11th-Graders That Will Make You Blush:
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/08/22/pedophilia-incest-and-graphic-sex-excerpts-from-a-common-core-reading-list-book-for-11th-graders-that-will-make-you-blush/

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/05/30/national-strategy-session-presents-everything-you-need-to-know-about-stopping-common-core/

Controlling Education From the Top: Why Common Core is Bad for America
Pioneer Institute and American Principles Project, Emmett McGroaty and Jane Robbins.
http://stopcommoncorenc.org/files/2013/04/Controlling-Education-From-the-Top-PRINT.pdf

35 Questions about The Common Core
Dr. Terry Stoops, Director of Education Studies, John Locke Foundation
http://stopcommoncorenc.org/files/2013/04/Spotlight435CommonCore1.pdf

Common Core: Worse Than You Think
Dr. Robert Luebke, Senior Policy Analyst, Civitas Institute
http://www.nccivitas.org/2013/common-core-worse-than-you-think/

Common Core State Standards: What  Parents, Taxpayers and School Boards Should Know
Citizens  United for Responsible Education
http://stopcommoncorenc.org/files/2013/04/CCSSWPTSBSK.pdf

Claims vs. FactsKeep Education Local
http://keepeducationlocal.com/claims-vs.-facts.html

Washington’s Latest Education Overreach: National Standards for Schools
Heritage Foundation
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DOCH1YT6Uk&feature=youtu.be

Where’s the Math?
http://wheresthemath.com/math-standards/common-core-state-standards/

The Common Core’s Fundamental Trouble
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/06/18/the-common-cores-fundamental-trouble/

Wake up, Common Core all about control
http://www.shreveporttimes.com/article/20130617/OPINION04/306170004/Ingram-Wake-up-Common-Core-all-about-control

Homeschooling advocate: Common Core abandons classics for ‘reading executive orders from President Obama’
http://dailycaller.com/2013/04/14/homeschooling-advocate-common-core-abandons-classics-video/

Common Core ‘Exemplars’: Graphic Sex and Praising Castro
http://frontpagemag.com/2013/mary-grabar/common-core-exemplars-graphic-sex-and-praising-castro/

Data Tracking and Common Core
http://stopcommoncoreinmichigan.com/2013/06/data-tracking-and-common-core/

CCSS Test Scores in the Toilet: No Surprise Here:
http://mattgerwitz.com/?p=398