You could ask if she uses pre-tests for material? I know that they do this in higher grades (by 3rd and 4th), but I'm not sure about in first grade. Pre-tests are quite useful for math in determining the skill level of an individual. However, the next question would be... If he passes a pre-test on a particular math topic that the intrepid first grade class is about to explore, then what? She would need to find some other material for your DS to do while she is covering the basics with the rest of the class.
In first and second grade, our DS's teachers stressed that they did not want to give material that went beyond their grade level for fear of stepping on the next grade teacher's toes. So you may run into the wall of how do they provide material that is to a greater depth of knowledge when the material is relatively simple (addition facts, etc). Deeper verses faster. It is a challenge.
Just make sure that they don't treat "needs additional challenges" as "needs more busy work". You son shouldn't have to do 30 addition problems instead of 10, just because he can fly through them. There is no surer way to make him detest school than that! Or become an underachiever! If working hard and speeding through easy material just gets you more of the same, then you are going to start underperforming. The other trap that we saw is that DS's first grade teacher would tell him that he could have extra challenging problems if he did the easy work that was assigned first. DS found the easy problems so unpalatable that we rarely chose to do all the easy problems in order to get to the harder ones that she had set aside. He would much rather have played with the kid sitting next to him (and thus preventing that kid from getting his work done). Kids see this strategy as an additional penalty... they still have to do much more work than the other kids in order to have the joy of learning something new. It is better to allow them to skip the easy questions and move on to the interesting ones.
Reading may be easier to differentiate. It is not too difficult to have a range of books available for the classroom. And I have found that as long as my son has at least one subject that is new and stimulating, then he can handle the tedious review of material in other subjects.
Last edited by ebeth; 09/09/08 08:05 PM. Reason: typo
