Jay Mathews with a spot-on article, Many parents hated Common Core math at first, before figuring it out:

Much better information has come from Common Core parents and teachers whose help I sought in a December column. My son had complained about the tedious new ways of learning math in my grandson's first-grade class. I asked readers to email me what they thought of the new methods derived from the standards.

Astonishingly, given the political controversy and my own ambivalence about Common Core, almost all of the reactions from people with children in schools have been positive, particularly when talking about math.

Nearly every one of them said they disliked the program at first but changed their minds when they realized that their kids, with good teaching, were learning more with greater enjoyment than they did at that age.

Montgomery County parent Marianne Sullivan said that "like many parents in the early years, we were confused by the math in particular and not very supportive." But now her twin daughters "understand math concepts so completely after learning 'that crazy way' in elementary school that I am a huge believer. They reason and understand. They do not memorize and move on."