Sorry, I had to run my DD to a Dr.s appt so I'll respond to everyone now.
Polarbear - I don't know whether they actually have end of year assessments or not. I know they have one for K so I just assumed that there would be one for the other grades. What do I know? I would think that if they didn't have one they could have just said that though. I will looks into Aleks. If nothing else it would reassure me that I'm right about where DS is. I think he has a shot at doing decently on 3rd grade so we'll see. As for explaining his work it is hit or miss for DS often depending on mood. I do worry that this could end up being held against him.
syoblrig - "How much deeper do they expect your son to understand 2 + 2, or to explain his thinking? What are the multiple ways of understanding this? Apples and apples vs. oranges and oranges?" - I love this and feel this way soooooo often. They want him to show his knowledge but if they ask what 2+2 is or to group items in 10s what exactly is he suppose to give them except for the right answer?
nicoledad - it is public school and after the principal I guess the next step would be the district GT office or superintendent. I hope it doesn't have to come to that. I thought I had gone high enough!
I also don't understand the whole "deeper" thing. It is definitely a word they like to use around here. The problem is that they won't stop to listen if you try and explain that maybe your child does understand the concept and not just the trick. Lat night DS and DH were going through one of the Murderous Math books and came across this problem:
There's a positive whole number that you can add to 1,000,000 and you get an answer that's *bigger* than if you multiply it by 1,000,000.
it took DS about 2 seconds to come up with the right answer and he could explain it thoroughly or "deeply" as they might put it.
