I just found out my son who will be entering Grade 2 was placed in a Grade 2/ Grade 3 split. Does anyone have experience with this? Is this a good thing or bad thing? My son is a bright kid so I'm sure he could handle Grade 3 work but I'm wondering about being picked on and stuff like that. Thoughts?
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away my daughter (who is now in college) had 1st/2nd grade like that. It turned out to be a wonderful experience! The teacher had two full years to get to know her, recognize her strengths/weaknesses. We still see that teacher and say hello and she remembers us. It definitely gives them "room to grow", to take on something a little more challenging when they are ready. I say it's going to be very great for your son!
tiki my son had this for 1st/2nd. He was in the same class both years. I was concerned about it for him for the same reason - he's a really bright kid. I wasn't so concerned about 1st grade but 2nd. It actually worked out GREAT! the way the teachers structured it was fantastic and he got a lot out of it. Plus he got a lot of stability and skipped the back-to-school learning curve that usually comes when everything is new. So at the start of 2nd, they just picked up and ran with things. It ended up being a rather effective and productive teaching model I thought. As for your 2nd grader having to do 3rd grade work, I think it's only if he is ready for it. At least the experience we had, they were very careful to be sure that each kid was able to learn at their own pace. The benefit was that having 2 teachers they were able to better keep track of who was where. So for teaching, they split into smaller groups and each teacher took a grade level. It worked great, although I'm doing a rather poor job describing it
I'm glad to hear some good experiences! Thanks for sharing. Unfortunately there is only one teacher teaching this class and she doesn't have any experience with teaching split classes. She is a Grade 3 teacher. His classroom will be on the "big end" of the school, away from the other Grade 2 classes. Grade 2 and 3 kids have different bell schedules so I don't know how that works. I don't think he'll be put in the same class for Grade 3 either. I'm hoping that the advantage to the class is that they kept the kids with behavioral problems out of the class so the teacher isn't too distracted. I'm also concerned that when he gets into a real Grade 3 class next year, he'll be bored because he's already seen the material. Maybe I'm just making a mountain out of a molehill but I'm losing sleep over it.
Sophie was in a 3-4 combo last year (she was in 3rd grade) and it was great! They usually pick bright, independent learners to be in those classes and keep behavior problem types to a minimum. Except for a few exceptions it was like a class full of Sophie's! She loved being with the older kids and maintained straight A's the whole year and loved the experience. I was in a combo class 2nd grade (with 3rd graders) and I remember it being really fun!
We've done a LOT of combos here - my 2nd son is in his 3rd combo class right now, in fact. For us, they have been wonderful experiences. They put the most independent students with the least behavioral problems in the combo classes since the teacher has much more to do and can't be splitting up her time having to deal with problem kids. We've only ever had one teacher teach our combos. Including my son's current combo class, we have had combos 5 times already. Also, I wouldn't be too worried about boredom for next year - even though they are in the same classroom, their curriculum is totally different. He won't be doing the 3rd grade work until he's in 3rd grade (at least that's how our school is) My only concern is that he's in a class that have grades with different bell schedules. We had this issue with my oldest - he was put in a 2/3 combo as a 3rd grader - but he was one of only FOUR 3rd graders. And not only that, they made my son go to lunch/recess with the 1st and 2nd graders and he was MISERABLE. I pulled him out of that class after we tried it for four weeks. The teacher was great - it wasn't her fault that the administration set up the class that way.
Only good experiences - that's good. I'll hang in there and see how it goes. The class is exactly 12 grade 2 students and 12 grade 3 students so hopefully they let them play with their respective peers at the various breaks. I guess we'll find out on Monday. I think it will probably be the Grade 3 parents that are more upset.
I LOVE split grades!! I will ALWAYS try to place my child in these...BUT ONLY IF my child is in the younger grade. HAAAAAAA I was in a 3-4 split grade class growing up. It was so amazing. However, my teacher was amazing. Mrs. Chapman. I'll never forget her. She died when I was in 5th grade of breast cancer. She will always be a beacon of light in my life.
