Jonathan Bartlett, an ID theorist who blogs here, is also, wearing another hat, well respected as a calculus teacher. See, for example, “The needless complexity of modern calculus. Meanwhile:
Intuition, he says, relies on skill, not the other way around:
In other words, students are frustrated because they are being asked to learn formulas and equations for things that have no connection to their present or future, whose sole purpose seems to be jumping through an arbitrary hoop set up to make them fail.
What Common Core is supposed to bring to the table is a deeper understanding of mathematics, so that students recognize how mathematical thinking is part of thinking in general. While this is a worthwhile goal, common core radically misfires on several accounts.
First of all, Common Core tries to teach the concepts first, and to incorrectly-aged students.
Jonathan Bartlett, “The Fundamental Problem with Common Core Math” at Mind Matters News
His takehome point: “Common Core is not as radical as the New Math of the 1950s, but both make the fatal error of prioritizing the thoughts of adults over those of students.”