DD6 (August birthday) is starting grade school tomorrow - that's first grade where we live, kindergarten was a play based pull out program in preschool for everyone, no reading or writing instruction. The plan was two first grade classrooms with about 20 kids.
A few days ago, we received a letter that due to a number of teachers leaving, there will be only one first grade classroom with 26 kids and the remaining 11 first graders will be "shared" among the two second grade classrooms, which will then also have around 26 kids.
This being a parochial school, I expect that there will be some attrition and a few first graders will move to public school, but not many.
I do not want DD6, who probably reads at a third grade level, in the classroom with up to 26 not or barely reading first graders and a (I'm told) very nice, but somewhat flaky teacher. The alternative, is of course, a second grade classroom, one of which has a very competent and structured, but somewhat brusque teacher, and kids from our area, the other of which has another nice-but-flaky teacher and kids from others areas of town. I emailed DS9s old teacher who happens to be the vice principal and she immediately recommended the second grade classroom with competent-but-brusque teacher, mentioning that it might be great for DD to be able to work with the second graders, but not be required to do so.
Yeah. Right. I always marvel at the ability of grade school teachers to pretend that kids can sort of...turn themselves off and on...how will DD not be at least at the level of the other second graders and be completely ready to move on into third grade at the end of this academic year? And be unable to tolerate what would amount to a repeat of second grade?
We actually purposely did NOT put DS9 in a split grade classroom in the public school at the time, because I wanted to avoid this particular scenario of having our hand forced to accelerate DS, who was already entered early with a late fall birthday, into third grade at the end of 1/2. When a skip from third into fifth grade came up for DS, we decided against, since fifth grade would have meant middle school, with the gifted program option on the other side of town, and he was just not ready socially and EF wise and most importantly wanted to stay with his friends. We are quite happy with how the choice not to accelerate further has turned out socially, and academically it wasn't a disaster, since at the parochial school the kids tend to work at at very high level even in the regular classroom.
I am actually not as opposed to a skip for DD as I was for DS. With her summer birthday, she is at least entered regularly, not early as DS was, and she is not as intellectually lopsided as DS is with, her social, EF and athletic skills much better than DS's, who does present a bit spectrumy on occasion. I have a hunch that the path of a grade skip in elementary and regular high ability track in an accessible location rather than the gifted program on the other side of town which is apparently quirky central for the region, might work for her. But it's all divination of course, which is a very imprecise branch of magic as we all know.
Do I just sit back and let it all unfold? Do I speak to the teacher (who, if I know her at all won't be very receptive and will insist I am to let her do her job)? To the principal (who is new, too - the old one wasn't opposed to grade skipping, I do not know the new ones attitude)? What were your experiences with this scenario?
