If the way your child is learning math leaves you scratching your head, you’re not alone.

And if you think sitting down at the table to help your second- or third-grader with his homework is as simple as 36 + 54 = 90, think again.

Because now, instead of just relying on memorization, repetition and algorithms to come up with a correct answer, students have to show how they arrived at the answer and why it’s correct.

In other words, they have to understand the math.

“I think a huge part of our math phobia and our dislike of math is because for so long, the elite were the only ones who understood it,” said Suzanne Culbreth, who was the 2013 Alabama Teacher of the Year and now is a master teacher in UAB’s Teach Program. “It’s very difficult to enjoy something you don’t understand and it’s difficult to be successful if you don’t understand.”

Parental confusion and anger toward the new math concepts and standards is widespread and not just an Alabama problem; a quick Google search will pull up hundreds of blogs and thousands of social media rants about the new way math is taught.

A statewide coalition of parents, teachers, and business and civic leaders has launched a campaign to educate parents on how math is being taught today, and why it is important for students to learn that 36 + 54 = 90 is the same thing as:

30 + 50 = 80

6 + 4 = 10

And,

80 + 10 = 90.

The nonprofit group, Alabama GRIT, produced a 14-minute documentary showcasing how students across the state are learning math. The video, “Real Learning for Real Life,” aims to tell what is taking place in Alabama classrooms, said Jessica Hammonds, executive director of Alabama GRIT.

In August, Alabama schools started their fifth year of teaching students under the state’s College and Career Ready Math standards, which is based on the Common Core State Standards. The national CCSS initiative, which details what kindergarten through 12^th-grade students should know in math and language arts, has become a political hotbed in recent years, another reason Alabama GRIT chose to film the documentary.

“It’s a huge political issue nationwide, but throughout all the talking and all the politicking, we’ve tried to stay focused on the students, and we want to show parents what we’re doing and why we’re doing it,” Hammonds said. “We want to show them that it is real learning. It’s just less memorization and more critical thinking skills.”

Students still learn the old way of doing math by repetition, memorization and algorithms, but they also are required to work through the problem by breaking it down, and showing the whole progression from first seeing the problem to arriving at the answer, Culbreth said.

The video focuses on second- and third-grade classrooms at Weeden Elementary School in Florence. It highlights how students are being challenged to learn why an answer is correct instead of simply knowing the answer. The film also explores the strategies teachers are using to help students meet and exceed the state’s academic standards, and how parents are learning to reinforce these lessons at home.

A 30-second trailer for the documentary started running Aug. 26 and will run through Sept. 29 at Carmike Cinemas in Auburn, Birmingham, Cullman, Daphne, Decatur, Dothan, Florence, Gadsden, Huntsville, Mobile, Montgomery, Prattville and Troy.

The documentary, which can be seen above or at ALstandardsmovie.org, was filmed and edited by Armosa Studios in Florence.