Have You Ever Heard of a 4/5 Combination Classroom?

I went to a school like that for my entire elementary school, I liked it. As far as reducing class size, it may not have reduced her class very much but it probably reduced others by combining them that way.

It would bother me.

I've heard of my daughter's school actually doing this in the past. I think it has alot to do with class numbers not enough kids to make another 4th grade or a another 5th grade so combine them.

I think it's weird and untraditional and they shouldn't have made a decision like this last minute. What school district are you in?

I guess give it a try and if it compromises your daughter in any way or she starts behaving differently or her schooling or academic behavior changes demand she get moved.

My family is very very against special ed unless one really needs it. They have preached to me if you put a normal child in an environment full of mental retardation, autistic etc... they will start to act in similar ways etc.(has something to do with a family member putting their child in special ed for attention when the child didn't need it long story) If you put a child in the ghetto they will start to immitate ghetto behavior and so on. That's what I'd be worried about in your case. Is your daughter going to be challenged? Is she going to not try since she's with 5th graders that are behind and not doing well? Will she have competetion or that drive to do as well as she always has?

It only takes one year to screw things up. I fell behind in 3rd grade because we moved and I NEVER caught up. I was doing very very well up until 3rd grade.

I wouldn't want my daughter to be surrounded around kids who are behind her or ahead of her I want her to be around other kids who are similar to her needs and academic standings. I don't want my daughter bored, or unmotivated or stressed out by trying to keep up. I do like some challenge though.

And if the teacher is only working with one grade one day and another grade the other than what is the other grade doing without a teacher? Is it free time? Then that'd be a waste of sending her to school.

Just my input.

Go to parents night and see if you feel better. I know I was ready to have my daughter pulled out of her 1st grade this year because last week the teacher and I didnt' see eye to eye on alot of things and last night at parent night I felt alot better.

i would be a little concerned...not because of the set up, but the teacher not having any type of information to give you before school started. I would think this type of set up would take a special teacher to teach, one that is organized and experienced. i would also be concerned about the one day on one day off concept...is there a para professional in the room working on skills with the kids who arent with the main teacher?? I think the set up can work, but the teacher should be able to let you know the general make up of the day! Hopefully once you get more information, you will feel better about it...if not, ask to switch classes...it is still early in the year. Demand what is best for your kid!

I was in one oh so long ago. It was a catholic grade school. It was one of my better years in terms of focusing and taking school seriously, but this could have been due to the teacher. She was excellent.

They did the same thing at my sons school, except in their case it was a 3rd/4th grade split. I think they are pretty common, I was in one growing up but can't really remember how it worked. I was actually wanting to put my son in the split. He is in 3rd grade and he would have been with 4th graders. He is an advanced child as well so I was thinking perhaps the exposure to a higher grade level might be interesting to him. As it turned out the classromm was already ful and he stayed in his fill 3rd grade class he was originally slated for. From what you are saying it sounds like they are even less challenged in the split class...Unfortunately I have no advice for you, I am also quite frustrated these days with the curriculum that the public schools offer my son. He is constantly bored b.c of the lack of challenges and although he is in the advanced program he only meets with that one hour a week which is not enough to keep him stimulated. He doesn't like school b.c of the lack of challenge and I am not quite sure what I can do for him to make his school career the exciting learning experience it should be. Good luck
K. H

I actually was in this kind of set up in elementary school (Minneapolis public schools -- late 70's). I think it was more of a pilot program back then, and my understanding was that kids in the lower grade (4th in your case) were more advanced, while the upper grade (5th) students struggled academically and/or socially. The older students weren't behind enough to hold back, but weren't ready for the next grade, so placing them in a combination class was a compromise. I also think it had something to do with budget cuts (even back in those days), and combining classes was a way to get by with fewer teachers.

I was in a a 4/5 classroom when I was in 4th, and a 5/6 classroom when I was in 6th. It was a very small school, and I think they were trying to save money by not having to hire another teacher. The more advanced students in my grade went with the higher class, and the less advanced went with the lower (with the 3rd graders). They taught us all the same things, except for math, which we went to the lunch room for with a teacher who came in just for that.

I personally didn't mind it. It was nice to have slightly more challenging work, and different people to socialize with.

Hi K.,

I heard is really good for the 4th graders because they are exposed do 5th grade work but I heard some kids complaining that they get confuse sometimes. My daughters are on 5th grade and they have a lot of homework and when they were on 4th grade they had a lot of homework too so I don't think is a good thing for your daughter. Here in our school the kids are choose for those combinations if they are independent student or if they are a quiet kid. Good luck!!!!

Hopefully you have gotten more information about the class. We have combined grade classes in our elementary school, but it is optional. If you want your child in a class like that, they can be. If you don't want them to be, they won't be. My understanding is the children are all taught the same information, but the younger grade is taught at their grade level and the older grade is taught at their grade level. But, if you have a student in a younger grade that is excelling, then they have the possibility to move ahead. The same thing with an older student who may be struggling. I have not had a child in a multi aged classroom, so I do not know all the benefits of it, but it seems to be very well looked upon. Get info from the teacher and the prinipal to be sure it is the right situation for your child.
S.

I was in a 4/5 split when I was in school (a long time ago) and I really liked it. I had a great teacher and was one of the most positive academic experiences I had. In general, we did more advanced learning than the traditional school room setting. I know several schools do this and sometimes even keep the same teacher for a couple of years in a row. You should talk with the teachers/principal and see if it seems like a good fit for your child, if not, ask her to be moved. Go with what you think is best for her, you know her the best! Good luck!

Harambee School in Maplewood does this all through the elementary years...their classes are K/1, 2/3, and 4/5. However, they have more than one teacher in each class and divide the kids differently for different subjects and parts of the day. So a kid who is advanced in math might be grouped with different classmates than when they have reading time. It sounds like this school sort of did this at the last minute and doesn't have a good plan in place. Students should be receiving instruction every day, otherwise what is the point in even showing up. I hope you get some answers.

I am a Montessori teacher and taught 1,2,3 combined for four years. At our school, 4,5,6 were combined as well. It worked incredibly well, but teachers and kids need some training. In my classroom, kids worked independently for much of the day. I called small groups to give lessons and each lesson had an assignment that was given with a due date. I would use post-its on a weekly calendar to write assignments with kids names on the date it was due to help kids and I keep track of what needed to be done. Also, in the classroom were enrichment activities the kids could do when done with their work. I like it so much because it is easy to pull an advanced 4th grader into a 5th grade lesson, or a 5th grader that doesn't quite understand an earlier topic into a forth grade lesson. Every child should be getting at least new one lesson/ day though (direct instruction every other day doesn't cut it). Kids need something new every day to motivate and excite them. Also, lessons should be flexible, regardless of age. It really robs the classroom of an obvious resourse to cut them upon grade-lines when an advanced forth grader could really benefit from reading more advanced material (or other subject area). In my set-up, lessons had 1-8 students in them. That way everyone could participate. It might be helpful to see if this teacher could observe/ meet with someone else who has done multiage or montessori before to get some ideas on how to work this. It does take some excellent classroom control and teaching to get to kids to the point where they can accomplish independent learning while the teacher is teaching another group of students. Also, it might be good to ask if the teacher gets a full-time aid, something that might be necissary when kids are expected to work independently while the teacher teaches other students.
Best of luck with this. I hope it can be turned into a good situation. Most often, the youngest students do benefit the most from this set-up (they seem to get really motivated by the work of the older kids!).
:) M.

P.S. Usually schools don't do this to "lower class size" though they might say that. They do it to "save money" because they have too many 4/5th graders to have the original number of classrooms, but don't want to spend the money to hire two new teachers. So, they hire one and do a split.