Too easy no good?

DS did not need to attend school today. So I got him to do one of his Maths assessment book while I was busy with housework in the morning. It was a step by step book which has 3 sections on each topic, Drill (for basic concepts), Perform (to build on the basic concepts) and Challenge (as the name imply, the more difficult questions). I like the book as I can identify which topics he's got problem even with his basic concepts.

DS, however, did not like the book. He wanted to do another one which covers mostly the more challenging questions. I had earlier explained to him that he'll need to go through the basic concepts first so that I can help him if there is anything not clear. True enough, he made some mistakes in the Drill section. So I made him do the correction after briefly explaining why his answers were wrong. Guess what? He refused to do the corrections! He told me they were boring and he didn't want to do them. After a little struggle, I gave in temporarily. I didn't want to turn it into a sour situation as my main purpose is still to get him to go through them. I will revisit them when he's taken his mind off them for a while. Hopefully he'll be less put off then.

Kids nowadays are over ambitious, aren't they? They want to learn how to run before they know how to walk (that was the analogy I told him a couple of days ago). Should I be persistent and make him go through the basic, especially when he's getting the basic wrong? Doesn't it show that his basic foundation is not strong? I just don't feel comfortable with the idea of going for the higher level when your base is shaky.