Split grade classrooms?

[bestjob]

My daughter is in grade 3 now and her school has proposed that next year they will offer 2 classes of grade 4 and a class that is a combination of grades 4 and 5, or a "4/5 split" to use the school's lingo.

When I was in elementary school I was often in the younger portion of split grades and I enjoyed them very much because we were exposed to a bit more challenging work, but that was 30 years ago, so things have changed a bit in the world of public education.

Does anyone have comments, suggestions or ideas about split grades that they'd like to share with me? Thanks.

[LiamnEmma]

I also enjoyed them as a student, generally also on the younger side, although one teacher looped with us and so I had a 2/3 and then the following year 2/3 (as a third grader) combo two years in a row. Here's my beef with them as a current educator. Often, they are set up with the lows of the higher grade and the highs of the lower grade. This is nice at first, the idea being that everyone is pretty much working on the same thing, even though each grade has it's own curriculum. Eventually however, the lower graded students pass up the higher graded students, and the older kids feel like big ole dumbies and then nobody can figure out why they start acting out....

Of course, the schools where I work seem to be figuring this scenario out and are not doing it so often, and maybe that'll be the case in this situation too...maybe ask how they're planning to group the kids? It might give you a better idea of their philosophies, intent, etc. Good luck!

[applejuice]

I attended a private religious school, and the philosophy there 40 years ago was to put the upper third of the 1st and the upper third of the 2nd together because tat group could handle the distractions better.

I do not know waht the rationale is today. Overcrowding maybe?


I was in the middle of those Baby-Boomers - there were 57 students in my 1st grade class. There were 75 in my eighth grade graduation from this small private school.

[3boysmom]

One of my sons was in a 2/3 split when he was in 2nd grade. It worked out really well for him. The teacher was amazing, very organized and did a great job keeping everyone on task and motivated. I think that type of class is great for a kid that is organized, self- motivated, and has a lot of self-control. Since that seems to be the type of kid they put in these classes (at least in our school) there were very few discipline problems and the kids all seemed to spend a whole lot of time working together and actually learning! My son really enjoyed being able to work at his own pace, and move on to the next assignment when he was ready rather than waiting for the entire class to be finished. If you have a child that can handle more independence (or thrive on it!) I think a split class would be great.

[bestjob]

Thank you for your answers. It is difficult at my daughter's school to have much input into the choice of teachers for the children. Between maternity leaves and kids with learning or behaviour issues who go to teachers who've had particular training there isn't a lot of flexibility when it comes to placing most of the children. All of the Grade 4 teachers are older (no babies expected) and have great reputations, so I think it will be a good year. I am hoping for one particular teacher and my daughter is hoping for another, but we will be happy with any of the teachers.

I am expecting my daughter to be put in the split class because she is, for an eight year old, very organized and independent.

The reason why this particular school ends up with split classes is because it is a French Immersion school and it has a large loss of students after Grade 3. If someone is not doing well with the second language, they change to a school with English instruction. Also, children can't start in FI after Grade 2 at this school, so if children move into the neighbourhood, they have to have attended and FI school before. After Grade 3 many children leave the FI school to attend a school for gifted learners.

[LiamnEmma]

I see FI as a completely different situation. In this case, I think you likely have a scenario wherein the parents are very very involved in their children's educations and therefore you are likely to have more success in general. In my personal opinion, 9/10's of education is about the parental involvement. Every school, great or stinky, has terrific teachers and not-so-terrific teachers, yet performance is highly variable...suggesting to me that in some schools parents are more likely to pre-teach and then reinforce the teaching occuring in the classroom. I'd think this is the case with a FI school...number one, there's tuition, which tends to increase the motivation factor for parents (it would for me too! ), then you have the idea that most of those kids are likely fairly avid learners and know how to learn, given that they're bilingual and likely more open to such experiences, kwim? In that situation, I'd say a combo is far less likely to be a huge factor in the classroom setting.

[bestjob]

Oh, perhaps I didn't make it clear that this is a public FI school. (We live in Canada.) It is totally without tuition. Actually, I don't think that the parents are all that much more involved at our school than they are at the local English language public school. The area is certainly one in which achievement is valued, but I don't think either school has better parental involvement.

The FI school has no remedial education, so kids with academic difficulties do need to leave the school (and generally don't even start in the first place) to access help at the English language school, though, so it is true that the kids are generally good at learning in school. Some parents hire tutors, though, to help their kids with difficulties.

I am interested in behaviour in the classroom, though. Is there a huge maturity difference between Grade 4 and Grade 5? It seems to me like there is a big difference between Gr 2 and Gr 3.

[butterflyma]

It's been a few years, but I did my student teaching in two "multi-age" classrooms (our district's lingo). One of the classrooms I taught in was in a school that was made up entirely of mulitage classrooms k-1, 2-3, 4-5. The reason that this school did this was because *research* had shown that it was beneficial to students at any place in the performance/maturity/emotional dev. spectrum. A large part of the theory is that children who are developmentally/chronologically "younger" will have the peer help of "older" students. Conversely, students who are "older" (i.e. more advanced) will have the opportunity to strengthen their knowledge/skills by helping younger students. I absolutely loved this school and its philosophy. BTW, it was in a very challenged area with little parental involvement. There was a deep sense of community- I would even say a sense of being a family- at the school due to the length and quality of the relationships that students had with their peers and their teachers.

[LiamnEmma]

oops, again different! :LOL ...didn't even consider Canadian schools. Now I'm just going to admit to being way beyond the scope of my knowledge and wish you the best!