I'm sorry to rain on the parade, but some things don't sound right here. What does it mean to "practice concepts"? It makes sense to "practice methods (or algorithms)" and it makes sense to "understand concepts".
Also it is concerning when you say "we go back to previously learned concepts it appears that he has forgotten how to use them". Why does this happen?
I'm concerned that the approach to mathematics may be wrong, and that there may be too much rushing ahead without a solid foundation.
Right... exactly. Wouldn't the solid foundation come from solving multiple equations/problems using the already understood concepts until they're embedded in memory? But when your 7 year old isn't fond of repetition, this becomes an onerous kill-the-joy task that dissuades the kid from wanting to do more math, and as a parent you don't want that, so you teach him whatever he's curious about, and not worry too much about him remembering because it's way above grade level anyway, but then a year later when he's forgotten you wonder if you did the right thing by
not "drilling & killing" ...
(Not that I have any experience with that
) <---sarcasm, in case anyone missed it!!
It's so hard to know what the right thing to do is.
