I am going throught the SAME exact thing with my daughter who is 9 and is finishing her first year in public school as a third grader. She went to Montessor school from pre through 2nd and the focus is on learning. No tests and they don't even correct spelling mistakes! My daughter has gotten great grades in public school and is at the top of her class. I recently asked for her to skip 4th grade math and her teacher sent home a packet "proving to me" that she was not capable of that.

I looked throught the packed. The things that she got wrong were things that she was doing in K! She wasn't reading the directions AT ALL! If the first 3 were adding, she added the last 3. If the first 10 were in order, 3x13, 4x10, 5x10, 6x10, 7x10, then she did the same for the x 100's...so she just put 400,500,600,700...BUT they were'nt the same! I don't have an answer for you! It is the most frustrating thing in the world. I tell her over and over. If you don't prove to your teachers that this is easy for you, they won't give you harder work, like you want! This is also evident in her writing responses, which you might find as your son gets older. SHE knows what happened in the story and SHE comprehends the connections, but she doesn't care if she shows the teacher that she know the story, so her writing summaries are vague and weird and rushed. She just doesn't seem to care WHAT her teachers think.

I also think in some way, that because she has NEVER had to try to get good grades, she is trying less and less to see how far she can NOT TRY and still get by. BAD BAD situation. I even tried to bribe her with money.

I have to say, she is happy when her book reports come back as 100's and VERY happy with the reward, but I don't see the reward as motivating at all while she is plugging away at it.

I DO think though, that is shows her that WE (mom and dad) think that her grades are important. So if nothing else, she is learning that!..

So, bribes? I guess that's my advice! lol..BRIBE him! Make it a chellenge. For every worksheet he does and gets them all right..ALL OF THEM...NO exeptions! Then he can have a dollar in the jar...or a marble or whatevery will motivate him.

It may not work right away, but in the long run, he will see his jar and his rewards and know that mom thinks the grades are improtant.!

I'm no expert...so take it with a grain of salt!