They will review in 3 mths, by which time, they hope to see improvement. Luckily his school teacher is solidly convinced about him. I still feel sick in the gut because this means I have to prep him into the shape they want. I signed him up for Aleks, and luckily too, he seems to be enjoying it. But the entire process just seems so wrong.
Do it Blob. Write many angry letters that you burn until you can do it with a smile - there is nothing wrong with a child being encouraged to learn memorization skills. There is nothing wrong with teaching a child that one has to live in this imperfect world and jump through hoops once in a while. You may as well make the most fun of it as you can - they only win if you let them sour you.
I think of this kind of skill drill as 'hothousing' and I am in favor of playing their game as a means of communicating in their language. It's lovely when the school folk speak 'parent' and see things from your point of view (which I believe is entirely correct) but as a matter of practicality, we have to learn their language, and in their world, 7 times 8 is key.
So here's a congratulation for getting the agreement for the skip, and for figuring out what it will take to get it to work, AND for getting started. yippee!!
Grinity
