Yeah, fourth feels like a pivotal year. We're not just playing around any more, we're setting genuine foundations. Plus, we're at this scary cusp: he is currently very motivated to go way farther, way faster. He sees all the applications of advanced math and he wants it NOW. But...the repetition, and the busywork, are grinding him down. I'm watching his enthusiasm get crushed and it horrifies me.
Early on I did try to keep his enriched content limited to the topics they were covering in school. This helped reduce the amount of sheer boredom before third grade, but of course it's now backfiring. Because there are a few topics in fourth and fifth grade math that he's not yet fluent in, and it's a lot harder to convince them that he doesn't NEED direct instruction in things like unit conversions because he will easily fill those holes on his own. But if he's not given something to sink his teeth into, math is going to be lost to him forever.
He also has a talented sister coming up behind him and I'm realizing that she actually needs me to advocate for her even more than he does. Because she is content to do the assigned work and doesn't push or complain, I haven't had as many teaching moments with her to encourage a growth mindset and a love of challenge. So we need to figure out how to work with teachers and administration to get both their needs met.
Unfortunately there aren't other districts or private schools feasibly available to us. I hope we can make this work.
