Momtofour... they want to start the year off next year with more of the 4th grade skills. They specifically mentioned multiplication and division. I would be fine with him doing multiplication/division at a higher level which is part of the 5th grade curriculum. The errors he's making are common gifted rushing through, skipping steps errors. He understands the math conceptually.
The root problem is their lack of understanding of gifted education. They think more of the same at the same level is what he needs to 'master' the skill. They don't get that gifted students need large, complicated problems at higher levels and that this will take care of the lower level skills. Example: complicated 2/3 step word problems involving 4 digit by 3 digit multiplication and fractions would also satisfy the 4th grade requirement of 3 by 2 multiplication that he makes simple errors on due to the lack of interest in drill and kill math.
Frustration.
