So he could do division word problems, but he didn't know how to measure with a paper clip. He must have missed the paper clip lesson last year in kindergarten when he fractured his skull.
blackcat, that's a shame that your ds missed the "how to measure with a paper clip" lesson last year… because… you know.. when I need to measure something that's always what I look for first - a paper clip (SERIOUS sarcasm inserted here lol!).
To the OP, I'm coming in a bit late here, but fwiw, the first thing I'd do is verify that what the current teacher is doing is actually random. It may be different in your area, but in our district the curriculum goals for math in early elementary really *are* random (at first glance), and my kids were working on seemingly different concepts every other week or so if not more frequently in K-3rd math in particular. If you find out the work they are giving your ds now is truly random, I'd consider sending in a curriculum (or after-schooling the concepts) and sending in work from home that is geared toward those concepts. If the teacher was willing you could make a plan together. OTOH, if they are feeding your ds work and instruction now that is based on your district and state curriculum standards, and they are tracking what they are doing, I'd let them continue. As long as your ds is happy and seems to be retaining the info I wouldn't worry too much about having only 5 minutes per session of instruction. I think if you sat in the classroom during the general math discussion time you'd most likely find that even though the instruction is spread out over much more than 5 minutes (perhaps), your ds would most likely be picking up the concepts in 5 minutes or less.
Best wishes, and let us know how your meeting with the school goes.
polarbear
ps - about reading books ahead of school - my ds and older dd both typically found the school pace of going through books boring beyond belief, whether or not they'd read the books before the class read them. DS in particular usually read the books right away when they were assigned, so he'd be done with the book by the end of the first day they were assigned many times, so I gave up worrying about whether or not to tell him "no, don't read this yet because you might have to read it again in school later on". Which sorta comes around to what we've found with acceleration - acceleration may temporarily stave away boredom, but it doesn't (or hasn't for us) done anything more than a "step up" - the classroom pace is still slow, unless you are able to place your child in with other similar-ability kids and in a classroom without disruptions. That's been the biggest challenge for us in terms of finding an appropriate curriculum.
