Combination Classes

My vote is to put him in a straight Kindergarten class. School curriculum is so fast paced now....and they don't get to do as many fun,artsy stuff anymore. I say let him have that fun first year! Don't worry about him not attending preschool. Preschool is soooo overrated!! Studies show that by 3rd grade there is no difference between preschooled kids and non preschooled kids' test scores. Heck...I didn't formally preschool my kids and I couldn't see any advantages over my kiddos when I volunteered weekly in my kids' kindergarten classes. Soooo, my vote is let him have a fun room with toys etc.

I would go ahead and put him in regular kindergarten as well. It isn't just about size or knowledge, but how socially they will learn... sitting at tables, raising hands, standing in line, eating lunch, arts and crafts... and the play of kindergarten. Just let him advance to his age and where he is right now. Remember, a large majority of kindergartners don't know all of their letters/numbers and aren't reading yet.

Try the Leapfrog Letter Factory dvds! I know it's lazy to some people, but it has seriously helped my boys (3 and 5) learn their letter names, sounds and shape recognition... as well as their numbers. I play the dvds for my boys (one will be starting kinder this year), and then afterwords we work on tracing the letters and doing puzzles and the like to help them.

These are the Leap frog dvd titles we have:
Letter Factory
Talking Words Factory

You can get them really cheap online:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3...

Don't worry too much about the academics right now. Take this time to focus on getting your son good opportunities for self-care skills and don't stress the letters and numbers any more than is fun for both of you.

I agree with Momma W about letting him go at a slower pace. Kids are all so different and your daughter's experience with this one second grade teacher and finding the curriculum not challenging enough may be unique to her. Let him show you how school is working for him before you ask staff for a different placement than one they would automatically give him. If they test for placement, chances are they might have a teacher matched up for him.

Put him in a regular kimder.
My oldest was in a K/1 combo, didn't know how to read, sit quietly, didn't know all his numbers. It was awful for him and us. He was expected to know and behave like the first graders. He had only had one year of preK and was a very busy little boy.
I am not an advocate for combined classes until later in elementary school or even middle schools.

Sounds like he's not ready for the combo, definitely a regular kinder.

It really depends how the combo class will be run and the ratio of K to First graders. Most likely the first graders are students that had a hard time in Kinder and need some more time reviewing. When combo classes are organized they take the "higher" achieving/independent workers from the lower grade and put them with the "at risk/lower achieving" students of the higher grade. In my district, in CA, Kinder is not a retention year, so all get passed on able or not. If that is the case in your district I don't think a combo would be a bad situation. As a matter of fact the combo classes on my site get a lot of extra resources/help and the teachers are more experienced. Also at my site the upper grade of the combo deploys out for reading groups and math. So the home room teacher is sometimes left with a small class (very good for the lower grade kids) So my advice is to talk to the principal and ask how they handle combo classes.

It really depends upon the district/school/teacher and how they run the class. When my daughter was in first grade, she was in a K/1 combo and I was really apprehensive. But it was run really well. During the morning, they did all of the same curriculum - just with different expectations. Ex. the calendar - the K had to know what day it was, while the 1st had to know what day yesterday was and what day tomorrow would be. Or during writing - the K had to draw a pic and copy a sentence while the 1st had to draw a picture and write a paragraph. You get the idea. And then after the K left, the 1st did all of the 1st grade specific curriculum. It worked out great!