Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy Combo grade classes

I am feeling hopeful for the coming school year. DD's school posted class assignments yesterday, and she will be in a 1-2 combo class (as a 1st grader). This is great because she's at a 2nd grade level in some areas, but more like a 1st grader with others. (I feel that many of DS's problems in school would have been mitigated had he been in a combo class.)

Our school doesn't usually have combo classes (this is the first I've seen in 3 years), so I don't know anyone whose kid has been in one. Anyone have any experience with these? Anything to watch out for?

(And if she's been learning with second graders all year, what do they do next year?)

My kids have had them many times. My dd7 is in her 2nd year in a 1/2 class. My son had this teacher, too, so I know it will be great. As a 1st grader she looked up to the 2nd graders and now as a 2nd graders looking forward to being the good example. It didn't work so well when my son was in a 4/5 split. There weren't enough 4th graders (5 vs. 20), and the teacher left them on their own to learn and figure things out too much. It was such a disaster that the parents had to band together and meet with the administration!

My only experience with this was when my daughter was in a Montessori school for pre-K and K. I liked the idea of a mixed-age classroom, but when my daughter was ready to move on, they wanted her to stay in K another year and be a leader for the younger kids. I had to move her to public school so she could start first grade. DD10 is now starting 6th grade with subject acceleration to the middle school for 7th grade advanced math. She would have been miserable if I hadn't pulled her out so she could move on.

If I were you, I'd ask the principal or guidance counselor at the school about what assessments they'll be doing and find out if she'll be allowed to move on to 3rd grade next year if she's ready. You may have push for assessments or assess on your own and advocate for the move forward if you feel she's ready.

I have had two different children in combo classes, 2 years each. Like syoblrig, the problem we had was when my DD was in a 3/4 combo as a 3rd grader with only 6 third graders & 20 4th graders. This was especially a problem because there was only one other 3rd grade girl who was not an academic fit with the other 5. This was a disaster from the beginning, but it was more because it was a combo that was formed quickly, 6 weeks into the school year, with an inexperienced teacher, and without a lot of support from the administration.

One of the other combos we experienced was a K/1 combo with a 1st grader. Only 6 kindergarteners, but they were older and academically advanced. It was not a problem for my 1st grader.

The other two combos (2/3 as a 2nd grader, 4/5 as a 4th grader) were overall great experiences. The classes were evenly divided, hand picked, and with teachers willing to buck the system & differentiate by grouping my younger DDs with the older grade for reading and math. The years in these combos were great, however the real issues came the following years. The differentiation was not continued in the next class & there were many issues with boredom, tuning out, etc. With my DD who had been in combos for two years in a row, it was a real issue when the older class went to middle school & she was left behind - almost felt like she had been retained.

Some other issues that I am aware of with combo classes come with class field trips - especially when there are traditional field trips in the school for each grade level. This divides the class and takes the teachers away from children who cannot go on the field trip because they are in the other grade.

Good luck! Hope your DD has a great year.

Our entire school is multi grade . The splits are 1/2 , 3/4 and 5/6. DD is currently in fourth grade. I really liked the split for 1st and 3rd grades. I did NOT like it for 2nd grade. They pull the kids by grade level. Ds is in second grade. They split the kids for shared reading and math by grade level.

The advantage of multi grade (at least here) is the teacher loops with the kids (this did not happen for either child in 2nd grade but did happen for dd in 4th). Ds , while in first grade, was grouped with the highest2nd grade group for guided reading. He was also pulled for gifted with the 2nd graders.

Disadvatage: He had to suffer through 1st grade Every Day math and this year 2nd grade math. We aren't sure what they will do for him in guided reading this year either.

Glad to know this isn't that uncommon these days. I spent most of my elementary years in combo classes, but I'd never seen it here.

It hadn't occurred to me that the class might be unevenly split. I know a couple of the other 1st graders, and know that they were near or at the top in reading and math. I suspect at least some of the 1st graders were hand-picked for this class.

DD is excited about being in the combo class. She was not challenged in kindergarten, and I knew 1st grade had the potential to be not much better.

So, another question. DD knows a couple of the second graders in her new class, too, and I am friends with their parents. I feel awkward...any advice?

My kids school is mostly all combo classes. It worked great for my DD10 when she was the younger grade because she listened to the older kids when she was done with her work. It otherwise wasn't much of a problem in the earlier years, but 4th grade was horrible for her because she was so bored. The good part about it was that it resulted in her skipping 5th grade because she was done with all of her work in 4th grade in 10 min when there was still another 50 min left in each subject period. We survived with books and a Thinking Skills book. My DD8 was headed to 3rd grade this year and there were no 4th graders. So, we decided to homeschool her.

KnittingMama, the beauty with your child being in a combo class in the younger grade is that you get the advantage of having exposure to a higher level curriculum (whether intentional differentiation or by eavesdropping) and you can blame it on how the numbers shake out with teacher units. It's actually easier to explain than subject acceleration or grade acceleration.

it is pretty common practice here. I think it works ok if your child is in the bottom grade and the split is fairly even (it always is here if possible). My son is a young year 2 (1st grade) in a year 1/2 class. He is ahead of his group in maths but there is no higher group and he is starting to get bored. Also I found as a child that really half the class was working from the year x text and the other half was working from the year y text without any interaction or cross over.

basically I don't think it makes any difference whether you are in a mixed class or not unless you have a flexible committed teacher. In which case you would be fine anyway.

We've had two experiences in single grade classrooms and the rest of the time has been in mixed-age classrooms. The only time we've ever had trouble at school has been the times when my children were in single grade rooms. Very telling, I think!

I think that the very nature of a mixed-age classroom forces the teacher to be more flexible and accommodating with each child.

It's a beautiful thing!