Originally Posted by mom2twoboys
Jamie: Hugs to you and DS. It sounds to me like the sub was over the top. There are ways to get a child to do what you need without grabbing an arm and moving him. How would any of us like that? I hope they DO move him to a first grade classroom for your sake. Hopefully, he'd be happier!

Kristen: Nice to hear good news. Let us know how it goes after you e-mail the teacher.

A small update here: Last night, DS5's teacher told me the principal wanted to talk with me. Talk to principal, who tells me that they'd like to move DS5 to a different K class (the one where he currently is going for reading a couple of days a week). They realize that the sporadic shifting of classrooms during the week isn't working and they want his whole reading group together in the same classroom. This particular K teacher was the school's gifted and talented coordinator for several years before moving back to teaching this year. Still, I want to be sure this is the only move that makes sense and the right one. I don't want to move him and then have to move him again. So, I asked principal about the redo on his reading assessment, explaining that the reading specialist was re-assessing him. I want to make sure that the reading group he's in is REALLY at his level. Principal said she'd talk to reading specialist today. When I asked about math acceleration and making sure he'll have math peers as well, the principal went on autopilot about different kids, different parts of the brain. I could barely get out of my mouth that he's ready for first grade math, too.

Have any of you heard of this kind of movement? I'm wondering how to handle a classroom switch when it's within the same grade. How does he explain to his newfound friends why he's in a different class? Are there other questions I should be asking?

We have a neighbor who just moved from one 1st grade class to another. The way his parents explained it to him was that he would just have a whole new group of kids to become better friends with - he would still be able to be friends with all the kids in his old class too. So he benefited from the move by expanding his friends - he was super excited on Monday to start in his new classroom. All same age classes have recess and lunch together so he still gets to see all his old classmates every day.