I have parents who are deciding that their child should be advanced in their math levels. In particular, a child who is 5th grade is working with his dad who has been teaching the child division, ratios, and pushing the child through topics. Now the parent feels the child will be bored and wasting time as we go through different topics. The parent feels that he has already experienced these topics and does not need to hear it again in class. He wants the child to be pushed into the 6th grade curriculum. The child is a good student. I told the parent that the child could be challenged by looking at the different ways that we solve problems and investigate the similiarity to what the parent taught the child compared to the class activities. He feels that this is a waste of time because he already knows the topic. How has anyone else handled this type of situation? I did tell the parent that I would find challenging work on the topics that the class is working but expand on the class topics. How have other handled this situation? I know that this must happend in other schools. Any help would be really appreciated. Susan Weiss
