Kindergarten/1st Grade Split Classroom

If the teacher assigned to the class is experienced or capable of handling a split class, then I think it would be fine. I was in a split 2-3 class in 2nd grade and a split 3-4-5-6 class in 3rd and 4th grade. I didn't have any issues and I actually kind of liked it because there were opportunities to advance beyond my grade level.

My kids are still in pre-school, but the local elementary school does split level classes for K-1 and 2-3. The students get to stay with the same teacher for 2 years so it provides some consistency. As long as both grades in the class are appropriately challenged, I don't see it being an issue. I think it will be a plus more than a minus.

I would prefer a smaller split-grade class over a large single grade class. I would be annoyed that they didn't know this ahead of time. It's true that people move around and change their minds, but you think that they would know before the first day of school and worked it out before school started.

what school district are you in?

I dont know if I would necessarily fault the school. they could have planned to have 28 kids in kinder.. which is a large class but managable.. but then 3 new kids showed up right before school started.

The split class maybe the best option .. they cant really have 2 kinder classes with 15 kids each. that is too small... and a first grade with 13 or 14 kids is reeally small. so a split class maybe a great option.. but normally when they do splits.. they pick the high achieving kids as the teacher has to work double hard teaching math 2 times reading 2 times.. so she cant reallyhave a lot of kids that need extra extra attention..

My DD was in a split class once and it was wonderful. The older kids 'helped' the younger kids, and the younger kids actually picked up more then the kids in their own grade who were in traditional classrooms.

This same DD was also in a class where half the students were mainstream and the other half was special needs. Again, another wonderful experience for her. This classroom did have one teacher and 3 aids though.

In both classes there were some kinks in the beginning, but once they were figured out it became a great learning experience. The unknown isn't always a bad thing, sometimes they turn out to be great things.

At our school the split classes were the BEST classes to be in.
They only put the most mature and well behaved kids in those classes. Not necessarily academically advanced, but trust me, those were the kids you would WANT to be your child's classmates.
I wasn't just a parent, I worked there too so I got to see this process first hand.
And please don't assume the school doesn't have it together. Do you know how often and suddenly families move, parents decide to go private, people wait until the last minute to sign up, etc? It's VERY frustrating to the entire staff I can assure you. They are scrambling to get everyone placed as best they can, I am sure.
Please try to relax and see how it goes before getting so upset.

If you say more about what your concerns are I'm sure people can help more. Many people have already talked about the positive aspects of a mixed-age classroom. Are you mostly annoyed that this is happening a few days into the school year and so is disruptive, or is there something about a split class that bugs you?

My son's Montessori was a mixed age classroom. I thought it was fantastic. The kids worked at their own pace. The older kids mentored and helped the younger kids. It really reinforced their own learning to 'teach' another kid how to do something. The younger kids who were ready could do more advanced work. So I think it benefited both the younger and older children.

Here, the public school that has multi-ages is very hard to get into. Parents want that! It's a huge benefit for learning, research says. So, I would not be worried. Good luck!

I would be THRILLED if my girls were in a split K/1st this year. They're in K and are already bored since so many of the kids had never been to school, don't know their letters, etc. If your son does get moved, think of it as a lucky thing, not a curse.

It is too bad that the school didn't know they'd have so many kids, but that does happen when parents wait until the last minute to register. Our school had the opposite problem - expected more people to register last minute, and now there are only 17 kids per kindergarten class.

My son was in a 2/3 split in grade 2 and grade 3, and in a 3/4 split for grade 4. Ours experience with split classes has been really good. He was able to develop friendships with the older kids, then he had sort of a leadership/mentor role with the younger kids.

It sounds to me like the school is making the best of a tough situation. Our school used to do mixed age classroom all the time. Most kids have a great experience with it. Definitely better than being crammed in an over flowing classroom.

Our school is a progressive blue ribbon school. My son has been in a 123 split since 1st and is now in 3rd. My DD just started a k-1 split and I cannot be happier. It's the best way to address a variety of level of learning. My kids love it as well.

Is your child in K or 1st? If he's in K, embrace this and run with it! Split classes are great for younger kids, especially if they have a good teacher (and they usually assign the really experienced teachers for split classes).

My daughter is a 5th grader in a 5th/6th split this year and it is going GREAT so far (we are 3 weeks into school). She is getting to do 6th grade math and reading (and goes to a 5th grade classroom for social studies and science). Basically, it's like being in a gifted and talented program for the younger kids.

Now, if your kid is in the older grade, throw a fit. I can't see how it would be good for the older kids, unless they needed a slower pace (which they might, and that is fine, too).

I'm not clear what the concerns are.

In my very small private school, there were combined 5th and 6th and 7th and 8th grade classes. The classwork was harder for the 6th graders, but 5th graders who could keep up could do advanced work. Same with 7th and 8th. Even in the younger grades, there were ways a teacher could manage multiple skill levels. We had six different levels of spelling words and there were kids at every level. Spelling tests took a long time, but it worked out and you could work at a higher level if you could handle it.

I would want to know how the different grades would be handled and how this could benefit your child. Could it be a good thing rather than your child being in a class of 31? I'm unclear why you are so angry about it.

Our school did this, only it was a 1st/2nd split started the second week of school. My child (2nd grader) got moved and they made it out like it was a good thing, it was not. This new class ran on a 1st grade schedule, so while the work load was 2nd grade, they did recess and lunch with the other first graders. My son felt like he had been help back a year. This year they made a 2nd/3rd combo and I made it clear my son would not be in the combo class.

I've actually never heard of this. Our school district has fought tooth and nails to keep class sizes small, but I've heard of larger classes in neighboring school districts. Sounds like kind of an innovative way to deal with the problem of large classes, with some positive results.

I think it would work well. Done more than u think. I have always found it to be a plus for both grades.

That is an outragous number of students for one classroom I thought 25 was this was the cap the last 3 yrs now it changed to 22 in K and 1st then 24 for the rest to 5th.We do have split classes but not K and 1st it's 1st and 2nd.We had no issues with split classes for my oldest this year neither is in a split class and they capped all classes not accepting any more students.

First of all, if your district is anything like ours, they don't have a handle on numbers because they take registrations up until the day school starts. They may have been waiting for approval for additional staff. You don't know what the problem is -- Lord knows, I've been irritated enough with our school, but this sounds pretty normal. They did a split for our 1/2 one year and asked families who would like to be in it.

In terms of the split, I would have loved for my daughter to be in a k-1 split! She was ready for 1 in a lot of ways and her k teacher sent her to 1 for reading. I would have loved to have her around older kids. As it is, she's in a 4/5 split now and has done really well. If it were me, I'd be asking to be sent.