I look at Common Core as sad for this country, but a GREAT OPPORTUNITY for parents and kids if they play their cards right.
Step 1: You, THE PARENT, get it, THE PARENT, not the teacher, not the principal, not the minister, no THE PARENT. Do you understand me, THE PARENT (I know you’re busy planning your next cocktail party, but step up and do your job). Make damn sure your kid learns how to do math CORRECTLY.
Step 2: Don’t worry about it. Now your kid has the tools to do math problems quickly and correctly. Common Core then becomes a game to them...they get to play with numbers, understanding that it is simply the result of too many “Education Majors” having too much time on their hands. Your kid can play the games too...and then check his work and get it right when he needs to (such as for standardized tests), and get it wrong when he needs to...such as when in public school.
If the problem is "add 450 to 134 using drawings; show your work" and you line them up and add them to get 584, you get it wrong. You must draw the items and then count them one at a time. Yes, they did learn the proper way, but they are also taught this primitive way and a couple of others (apparently just to confuse them with multiple methods) and they force them to do it the dumb ways on a test or they get scored wrong regardless of the answer the get. So your solution is not sufficient. The system is rotten and it has to go.