DS 5.5 is reluctant to writing out anything as well. Same thing, 2-4 digit division. Sometimes I will MAKE him do it to show me how he came to this answer and to make sure he knows how to "show his work". If I am not mistaken schools are big into this..... I like the idea of giving them really difficult problems so they see the benefit of writing it out. Great idea!
Not only do they expect the kids to show work, but I've found some unnecessary steps have been added to make the solution "clearer" but those seem to me to impede clarity. Of course that could be an issue of my age and I'm more of a verbal person...
