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Dad Writes Gag Check to Son's Elementary School Using Common Core Math

Doug Herrmann wrote a check to his son's school using the common core teaching strategy.
Doug Herrmann
ByNICOLE PELLETIERE
September 23, 2015, 3:16 PM

— -- One dad's frustration with his son's second grade math homework is going viral on Facebook after the dad posted a hilarious photo of a check he wrote to the elementary school using the common core math strategy.

Doug Herrmann or Painsville, Ohio, told ABC News that he wrote the check as a gag when he and his seven-year-old son were having trouble completing an assignment by using the math concept. Common Core encourages students to solve addition by breaking down numbers into tens and ones inside tiny boxes.

While he said he never actually sent the check to the school, Herrmann, a professional photographer, did post a photo of the check on Sept. 16 to Facebook, where it has been shared more than 25,000 times.

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"Wrote a check to Melridge Elementary using common core numbers," Herrmann wrote in the caption. "I wonder if they'll take it? #YouFigureItOut"

In addition to the check being a trending topic on Facebook, Herrmann sent the photo to his wife who happens to work for the curriculum coordinator at the Riverside Local School District. According to Hermann, the coordinator laughed at the photo.

Herrmann, a dad of two, said he and his wife respect their children's school and its administrators.

He added that he appreciates the flood of positive comments from parents who can relate, and is glad to have brought attention to the difficulties of the common core strategy.

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