Kid Looks Like a Genius with Matter-of-Fact Retort Why Common Core Math Problem 8 + 5 Doesn’t Add Up

Kid Looks Like a Genius with Matter-of-Fact Retort Why Common Core Math Problem 8 + 5 Doesn’t Add Up. We believe the correct answer is eleventy.

This post was last modified on January 26, 2021

CO2Insanity: Tired of the CO2 BS and all the other BS in the US and the world.

View Comments (27)

  • Since it doesn't look like anyone else is doing it, I take great pleasure in holding impromptu math lessons when giving change to kids at my booth. When I have a little time on my hands, of course.

    The ride for two of them costs $8. They give me a twenty. I have a messed up wad of bills in my hand. "Ok, the ride is eight, you gave me twenty. Let's keep this simple, I'm Scottish. How much do you need back to make ten? Two? Ok, so far, so good. Now, how much more to make twenty? Ten? You're definitely much smarter than I look. Very good. Hmmm,....no ten. Will two fives get the job done?" Followed by praise IF they get it right.

    • I give math lessons to the kids that are cashiers in fast food joints.
      If the tab comes to $6.52 I give them $12 and watch them scratch their heads. I tell them to punch it in to the computer and see what it tells them to do. When they see that I'm getting a $5 back with some coin, they ask how I knew to do that. I tell them I paid attention in math class, and I am real good at it.

  • I spent 8 semesters in math courses over my years in college (I could make an argument for more; lots of engineering courses are on the line). On only one of those did I get less than an A. In case you've never heard, linear algebra is pretty annoying. But back to the subject at hand, I've taken more hard math than most math teachers who aren't in the top 1% of high schools. And, with all of my knowledge on the subject, I cannot fathom how the heck anyone could consider the instructor's answer as correct.

  • If I was on a school board, when it came time to negotiate the next teacher contract, I'd use this kind of math.

    'We are going to give you all a 10% pay increase! And then take back 11%. Yeah! Math is fun."

    • Better yet, give them a 10% raise, and take away 11% for every point below the national average their students rank. Some of these teachers would end up owing the school district money.

      • Yeah? Go do the math in the 4th paragraph of that flippin the bird National Geographic story, is it just me or does this not compute?

        • Which Nat Geo story?

          {EDIT}
          Never mind, I found it.
          Yes, it comes out to 105%, but if you read it, the 5% Hispanics were extracted from white and black, so they were counted twice, once as color, and once as Hispanic.
          " 5 percent were Hispanic (which includes both blacks and whites)"

  • From what I understand, and when it comes to this brand of stupid, isn't much, according to the common crud proponents it's not the correct answer that's important, it's how they got to it.
    However the person who just came in from wherever with their H1 visa learned how to come up with the correct answer.

    • That maywork in the classroom, butout in the . World, if you can't balance your checkbook, your $10 purchase will cost you $50-75, depending on fees! They HAVE to learn accuracy, j u st like college bound kids (at least) HAVE to spell correctly and use something approaching good grammar.

    • As long as they can come up with the most convoluted way of doing the problem, the right answer doesn't matter. The further away from the right answer, the better.

  • All of this Common Core stuff just reeks of distraction.

    Like, if you have a chump and you want to pull off some deviously complex scheme behind his back, so you say to the Marx Brothers, "Create a diversion for me!"

    I could just see Groucho and Chico doing this very math lesson while the kid's house is being dismantled and moved somewhere else. (Of course, my beloved Harpo would be running around the classroom smashing things and chasing the teacher! Honk! Honk!)

  • I AM a numberphobe, but even I can add. The child is right. 8+5 will never make 10! Then they wonder why the Asians arevgetting all the STEM jobs! Jeesh!

  • Anyone involved in Common Core, & I mean ANYONE who designed it, promoted it, or was involved in jamming it down the throats of the schools should be arrested for child abuse. Seriously, creating something this stupid in the name of "education" should be considered a criminal office.

    • It was created to demean and confuse kids that understand simple math, and boost the egos of kids that have no clue what they're doing.
      IOW, they are making math classes equal to real life happenings in the White House.

  • The teacher failed to explain to this child that that formula only works correctly when you are either running a country, or using your EBT card at the liquor store....

    • That too, but another way you take 8 oz of pure crack. You pull out 3 oz and set it aside. Then you add 5 oz of rat poison. Wahla. 10. Nothing like preparing our children for the real world.