[PaulHoule]

As a homeschooler I think Common Core is a good thing in that it tells you what you need to cover, and it means that I can choose from a lot of different curricula which include it.

If you work through Kahn Academy math, you will certainly run through some of these areas where kids are pushed to do some kind of math problem in a highly stylized way that (i) they struggle with and (ii) don't see the relevance of. Elementary school teachers have told me the same thing, but it is not the end of the world.

There is "no one true way" to do arithmetic. When I was in the fourth grade I had the worst time with 3-by-3 digit multiplication. That didn't stop me from getting a B.S. in Physics and Math, with an A average in my majors, and also getting a PhD in theoretical physics. Recently I read that a lot of other people who were "good at math" struggled with the curriculum when I was a kid so nothing is going to be perfect.