Erlyne Osburn, an elementary teacher with a background in both public and private schools, is here to help you do everything you can to enhance your child's education. I understand your concern. When parents enroll their children in any school, they expect that the school and its personnel will educate the children using a variety of teaching methods. Many schools, in fact, have contracts between parents, teachers, and students. Unfortunately, it sounds as if the students and parents of your child's fifth grade class are having difficulty meeting their obligations because the teacher may not be utilizing effective teaching methods.
Children learn at different rates.
Because of this, I do think that children should be able to progress with their learning at their own pace in subjects like math, where kids learn a series of concepts, each building upon the last. Math really and truly does lend itself to self-paced learning. However, I also believe that even the brightest children need to be shown how things work, allowed opportunities to work with concepts, and then be given the opportunity to practice the concepts on their own. Instruction, both direct and indirect, is crucial in learning, even in self-paced programs such as the one in your son's classroom. There is a compromise to consider here.