[brudgers]

The instructions may [or may not] be more readily interpreted in the context of a student who has had the relevant classroom instruction. That's been my experience as parent of a student taught under the Common Core.

But I think you've hit the nail. As in the article, the primary problem discussed is selling Common Core to parents and the no sale is generally "I don't understand this" coming from the parent. Whether Common Core is better or worse, it is not surprising that a new methodology is unfamiliar to adults trained under an older rather orthogonal one. That's what mostly drives the politics of public education and politics of public education is why your young relative had homework in the first place despite little vetted data supporting its imposition.

Disclaimer: My first reaction to Common Core was similar to my first reaction to Montessori - what the fuck are they doing, that's not the way I was taught. My current position is likewise the same, the results have been great and I am still not an expert in primary education despite my lack of effort to become one.