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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Our elementary school does this every year and I don't understand it.  Is it common?  Last year we had a combined 4/5, and this year we have both that and a combined 2/3.  However, the 2/3 has only 3 second graders and the others are in 3rd.  The kids in the lower grade of the combined classes are switched out to regular classrooms twice a day for certain subjects.  The parents don't like it, and at least some of them did not choose it.  Does anyone else have this?  The principal says she has no choice because there are a handful of kids that aren't enough to make a new class, but would put the other classes over the limit.[/quote]

OP, what's your location? Suburbs close in to DC, or farther out? Small school? Public? We're in FCPS and this never happened in either of the two elementaries my child attended. Our experience with so-called "differentiation in the classroom" to meet the needs of both fast and slow learners in the same class (same grade) was not good, so I'm wondering if combined grade level classes present the same problem for teachers who are unrealistically expected to meet the needs of students who may be at very, very different places academically. I know that what you're referring to is a separate situation from differentiation, but unless a teacher is trained and experienced in handling instruction for two grades at the same time -- I would be wary of it.

I was in a split first grade/second grade class in a tiny school as a child in the 70s, and it was fine, but that was so long ago and in such a different region that I don't see how it would apply to a kid's experience here, today. I haven't seen it here myself, and haven't ever heard another parent mention it around here, so was surprised to see a PP saying it's common where he or she is now.[/quote]

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