Grumpy parent thinks they know what is best.

Meh! As you know it's back to school time so time for my annual whinge. I could do better with him blah, blah, blah.
I don't blame the teachers as such. They are stretched way too far; One teacher to 20+ kids and they have to spend time with those who are struggling and help them as best they can but what about the children at the other end of the spectrum?
The education department doesn't like kids to 'skip' grades early as they may miss out on some fundamental skills. This really annoys me. My child finishes things early and gets to kick back and relax. I can see him getting bored with school and I know this is a possibility because I did that exact sane thing. I lost interest and thought 'Why bother?'
He's been back at school for 3 days and already I have a bee in my bonnet.
What set me off this time I hear you ask.
Well, for starters on the first day he came home with his homework book and I had a good read through the note at the front. It sounded so promising.

"Would you sign my reading sheet in the back of my homework book when I have read for at least 10 minutes...
Teacher would like it if I also read on the weekends...
I need to try to do some homework every night to develop good homework habits."

First thing that annoyed me was there was NO homework for the first week. They've just come off their long summer holidays I don't understand why they need a further weeks break. So much for good habits. Guess it's teaching them for when they enter workforce the first week back is just a bludge. Hmmm.

Next, I had a look at the reading record sheet at the back of the book and I was less than impressed. It is already filled in with dates for the first term. Starting week 2. Each week there is a space for Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. So much for the reading on weekends. I guess it isn't important to write down the books for those three days; We'll just assume they've read.
Also there is no column for recording time spent reading or amount of pages read. If we're doing the recording thing shouldn't there be a section where the teacher can see if the child is improving or putting in a great effort?

So as usual I'm being a rebel and doing my own thing. I've drawn up my own reading record book for him including the extra fields for pages read, time spent reading, author and even a column for notes from teacher. If they expect my comments I expect some in return. I have also left plenty of space for him to read on weekends or perhaps more than 1 reading session per day.

Oh and I even went ahead and got him to read on those first 3 nights; More to the point I'm going to gave him read on Saturday and Sunday too. If they only expect 10 minutes a day it's not like I'm asking much of him.
What I do is set a timer when he starts and I just let him go as long as he likes. (Making sure it's over 10 minutes.) So far he has recorded 19,15 and 16 minutes. Whoops. Naughty Mummy not telling him he wasn't required to start reading until next week.

I wonder, if you were in this position would you.
1) Do exactly what is required by school.
2) Do what you know is best for your child. (Making a few modifications so it also fits the school requirements.)
3) Stop worrying. It is after all the school's responsibility to educate children.