Any Thoughts on Combo-classes? Charter Schools?

I really depends on the schools themselves, how the programs are run, and the individual teachers.

Take montessori schools, which do combo classes (in a 3 year range; 3-6, 7-9, 11-13, 15-18) from preschool to highschool. Kids work at their abilities. So an 8yo may be doing upper level math and lower level reading, and a 7yo may be doing upper level reading and lower level math. Both would be he;ping the other at what they're good at (the whole, you retain 90% of what you teach). Kids learn from those who are more advanced than they are, regardless of age. The teachers rarely teach as a group, but teach 1 on 1 instead.

Take a standard public 2 year split; in some classes the teacher spends 1/2 the day teaching to the 3rd graders, and the other half teaching to the 4th graders. In another class the teacher teaches the same material to all. In yet a third class, the teacher teaches both sets to both sets / kids are grouped by ability instead of age (reading group A/B, science groups A/B, math groups A/B), etc.

We've had *amazing* experiences in combo classes, and *lousy* ones. It really depends on the structure and the individual teacher's abilities/ preferences.

I am not a fan of combo classes until high school.
We were not happy either time.
My son was way too immature in Kinder to be in a K-1 program and the school would not move him to just kinder.
My daughter was bored to tears in a 3/4 class because the kids were not taught at a higher level but sort of in a midrange.

I actually liked the combo classes my daughter has been in. She was in a 2nd/3rd grade combo class and was identified as eligible for GATE because of this class. She was able to work at her grade level for those things she needed and at a higher grade level for those areas she was advanced. She was in a 3rd grade only class and felt "different" than the other kids and started to show signs of becoming an under performer. I forced her into GATE (she didn't want to have to work as hard as the other kids and didn't want to go). Now she is in a combo 4th/5th grade GATE class and does a fabulous job. I find the kids tend to stick with the kids their own age, there isn't a lot of "co-mingling" on the playground and in the classroom.

I was very happy with my kids' charter school and combo classes. They didn't experience the struggle/challenge problem.

Oh gotcha, I was like what's a combo class lol. Is there an advantage to combo classes? I would think it could get iffy if the older kids pick on the small kids, but that's just because of where I'm originally from and crazy things I read in the news like gang-up beatings or other nasty things. I think when it's a traditional grade by grade the teacher has more focus on one curriculum at a time that is suitable for the age at hand, so noone is going to get bored. I'd recommend the K-4 because there won't be kids tooo much older than her.