Isn't 6th grade middle school and doesn't he have many different teachers? My 6th graders each have eight teachers for their eight classes. Anyhow, I am not sure that telescoping and compacting would work as well in middle school. Also the focus shifts even further from input to output and independent research/work (at least our experience) so there should be more room to delve deeper.
The problem is not whether you know better but whether you can force your son to go along with "anything special". I just don't think that you can.
