Who were the people involved in making this decision and were they supportive? If the principal was supportive of the move, perhaps you can talk, maybe informally, about your concerns with the 5th grade math teacher. Having that math teacher at least receptive to the idea is definitely preferable.
The people involved were DS's tester (psych who specializes in gifted and 2E), principal is supportive (mainly because she thinks we will stop complaining) and us (me and DH). The teacher is not hostile...just a little incredulous that this will work.
And finally, if your DS is ready to be accelerated three grades in math, you should have no doubt that he has the mental capacity to master all the various methods of multiplication. He is probably even smart enough to realize how silly it is to have to solve the same multiplication problem three different ways! smile
DS learned the various methods of multiplication last year. Don't worry - he already knows that it's ridiculous and refuses to do any other way than the way he has already mastered. I'm concerned that when he refuses to do the different ways, that the teacher is going to label this a "failure".
