When DS was in 1st grade they had a short template that went along with the word problems. It was 4 fill-in-the-blanks (I don't remember the terminology used, but it was something like this):
data (4 apples, 3 apples);
word clue (the word(s) used in the story problem, like started with, gave, ate, etc);
operation (add, subtract, etc, what you need to do to solve the problem);
math sentence (4 + 3 = 7).
The teacher had this written underneath every single word problem, so it became a habit to read the story and fill in the blanks. The teacher must have had lessons on which words gave the clue to the operation.
The math was much too easy for DS, but since he had to fill in the template after each problem, he was forced to think a little about how he arrived at the answer.
As for claiming some of the math is too hard, I do think it's important to push a little on this. DS has fallen into the habit of quitting when the work gets challenging, and it's proven hard to get him to move even slightly beyond his comfort zone. Nip it now, because it doesn't get easier!
