DS-almost-7 is in 2nd with a math acceleration to 3rd grade (skipped K). He was placed in a 2nd grade daily RTI group (in addition to the 3rd grade math daily) because they thought that they could challenge him sufficiently there. His 3rd grade math teacher thought he could use more practice speeding up his addition and subtraction facts and that this could be done in the 2nd grade RTI group. So, he has to get 100% right on three addition tests (100 problems in 5 minutes) in order to move on to the subtraction test, and then do the same in order to move on to the multiplication test and so on. (BTW: the goal for 2nd grade is only 80% right on these tests by the end of the year.)
They only take one timed test a week, spending the rest of the week doing simple addition and sequencing activities that are way too easy for DS. Since I learned that he needed to pass these tests in order to actually get work at his level, I had DS spend 5 minutes a day doing a timed fact test, and within 3 days he was getting 100% correct every time he took it. He had always known the facts and just needed to practice getting faster with it.
So, the problem is that since they only take the timed test once a week and he has to get three perfect tests, it will be a minimum of 3 weeks before he can move on to subtraction and then a minimum of 3 weeks until he can move on to multiplication. In the meantime, he has to spend all his RTI math time doing math that is far below his readiness level. I guess I should add that multiplication facts are what he should be working on now since he knows his 1s, 2s, 3s, 4s, 5s, 10s, and 11s multiplication facts.
Should we just suck it up and go with the flow and have him spend the next 3 weeks working on addition when he knows it easily or should we say something to his teacher to let him know that he's ready to move beyond addition facts and see if maybe they can make an exception to the 3-test rule? I feel like we're always asking why things are so easy for him and can they make it more challenging (math, reading, writing, spelling . . . ). I don't want to them to get the impression that we're pusing him, especially because DS is saying how easy everything is. But they don't seem to have a contingency plan that accounts for him learning things quickly.
Any thoughts on what I should do?
