Adult class aims to clear up confusion from Common Core

By Brian Nordli

Sunday, Oct. 5, 2014 | 2 a.m.

Angie Castle dreads her son’s fourth-grade math homework.

Three days a week, her son comes home with a math worksheet that reduces him to tears of frustration. He’s learning how to solve story problems. The questions ask not just for the solution, but also for a diagram and explanation about why he came to that solution.

It’s the latter part that befuddles Castle and her son. It can often take them two hours to finish a six-question assignment, if they can finish it at all. The assignments have led Castle’s son to say he hates math and have left Castle feeling helpless.

That’s where Bill Hanlon comes in. Hanlon is director of the Regional Professional Development Program of Southern Nevada, created by the Nevada Legislature to help train teachers. But he’s also providing education for parents — free classes to help them understand math the way their kids are learning it.

“The problem is that Common Core is teaching kids different ways to add and multiply and divide,” Hanlon said, referring to the new set of educational standards. “My goal is to teach parents the kids’ ways so they don’t get frustrated when helping their kids.”

Castle’s experience is not unusual. One of the most common concerns Clark County School Board member Stavan Corbett hears from parents is that they struggle to help their kids with homework. That issue creates a problem on two fronts — the kids lose confidence in learning and parents stop being engaged in education.

And math is often the subject creating that barrier.

This is not a new problem, and it’s not exclusive to Nevada, Hanlon said. Math homework has haunted parents for generations, most often because they haven’t taken classes in 20 years and their skills have grown weak. They need a refresher.

“What he teaches is a way to think about numbers to understand what’s going on, and ways to approach them to solve problems,” School Board President Erin Cranor said. “That’s what these new higher expectations are about, as well. It’s perfect timing.”

Hanlon’s class will begin with simple arithmetic, then he’ll tackle middle school math and, finally, algebra. At each level, he plans to break down the ways kids are learning the subject in school and why. He’ll interpret math phrases such as “add-add method” and “tape diagram.”

Most times, its just a new name for the same old math problems, Hanlon said.

For parents who can’t attend his classes, he recommends they check the child’s notebook for examples first to see how they were taught. If that doesn’t work, his website, hanlonmath.com, offers worksheets with formulas and explanations, he said.

Castle is planning to attend, and she’s excited to get started.

“I just want to understand what’s being taught in the classroom so I can help (my son) with homework,” Castle said. “So if there is a way of demonstrating the work, I know what is expected rather than just writing a note to ask the teacher.”