Is anyone out there familiar with having a child placed in a combination class and on top of that it is also a job share with 2 teachers. I have many reservations with this mostly because I am worried of how anxious my daughter is and how many questions she keeps bringing up. I refuse to lie to my child and tell her that this is wonderful because I really don't feel that it is. Any advise or maybe some information of people who have been through this would be greatly appreciated!
I find it so amazing to have gotten so many responses but not only that....very thought out and helpful ones. I want to first thank all of you that took the time to help me out and give me some advice because I was seriously thinking of removing my daughter from this school just to alleviate this situation. Thank you for suggesting that I make sure I communicate my feelings to the Pricipal and the different thoughts on many of the positive aspects of this situation. My daughter might still be moved to another class but I think I am much more ready for the possibility that she is not moved....once again thank you all for sharing with me!
I personally haven't done it, but I was just talking to a friend whose daughter did a combo class, and she hated it. The reason was because there were 40 kids in the class as opposed to 20-25 in a normal class, and since it was so big, there was a lot of noise and chaos. She feels also that her daughter didn't learn much more or was challenged any more than a normal class.
We had experience with both, but not in the same year. My son loved the job sharing teachers. They were both excellent and parents gave good reviews because the teachers were allowed to continue to share up until one decided to stay home after the birth of their second child.
The 1st/2nd split thing. I was in a split class and loved it. My son was in a split class and really didn't care for it much. To be honest, it has more to do with how capable the teacher is in providing instruction to 2 different grades. She had a lot of volunteers and still did had trouble with separating the work. She ended up giving both grades the same spelling and writing homework because it was easy for her, but honestly it wasn't appropriate. The reading and math groups were done by capability, so it was fine that 1st and 2nd were mixed. The school did in the end provide an aide to help with teaching more to each grade.
That being said, when I was in a split class, my teacher was capable. The same school where my son had issues had a combo class last year with a different teacher and the results were far better.
Good luck and if you have an reservations, it's best to raise them with the principal sooner rather than later.
I've never had a child in a combo class but I taught a 1/2 combo when I was a teacher. I don't see how it's a big deal as long as you are making sure your own child is being challenged. I think it's a good opportunity for the younger children to learn from the older and the older students to act as positive role models.
As for the job sharing--I am going through the same thing with my kindergartener. She has a teacher there two days and the other teacher three days and they switch that every other week. The two teachers have been doing it for four weeks and don't feel it's an issue. Despite some trepidation on my part--every parent (of older children) who have had these two teachers rave about it. The only thing the teachers asked is that we copy them both on all correspondence so they're both in the loop. As long as you stay upbeat and make it seem like an adventure, I'm sure your daughter will be fine. My daughter hasn't made a comment about the job sharing (although she can't remember their names!)
When I was in elementary all my classes were combo from kindergarten through 6th grade when I graduated. It was a normal thing to me. I am almost 38 now so this was a number of years ago. It was great for me as I was usually the lower grade in the classes so I'd get the higher grade education. I was always advanced.
I have no idea how it works nowadays with the higher emphasis on state testing and all of that though.
I think it is a great opportunity for your daughter. This opens the door to a greater learning experience. There are two teachers which means she will get the opportunity to learn from two individuals with different teaching methods, styles, and view points. This will also allow her to experience different students inside the learning environment, usually it is the same group of students year to year, this will allow a bit of variety. By your daughter being an older one in the room, she may be given the opportunity to teach the younger students, which is the optimal way to completely understand a concept. I think it sounds like a wonderful opportunity and you should encourage your daughter to take advantage of the situation, allow her to ask her questions and help her with developing her own answers of solutions. Hope this helps!
Hello there! I have not been on the parent side of this situation, but on the teacher side. I taught 2nd grade working with another teacher, and it was a great experience. I taught science to her class and mine, while she did the same with history. I had more time to plan a better lesson for all the kids, and got to spend more time doing what I really enjoyed teaching. The kids got a better lesson from both teachers because we were much more invested in what we were teaching. Try to remember that teachers are observed all the time, and if it wasn't working the school would not allow it to happen. I'm sure the teachers are quite capable, and probably doing a better job by working together.
