Would you consider a school like this?

[Celia]

I'm considering a change for next year, but I don't consider the public schools around here an option. Low academic standards and bullying are too prevelant. I came across a very small private school that's only a 10 minute drive from my house. There's about a dozen kids per class, with the grade divisions being K-3, 4-6, and 7-9, although that could change next year if they get more enrollments. The principal was saying she'd like to split the younger class up, as it's a pretty large age range. So there's 3 teachers, as it is now, and a learning assistant teacher to help kids with math and reading as needed.

 

I'm not sure how I feel about the classes with such a split of age ranges. Some definate pros and cons there. I like that there's less kids (much better for my son who's easily overwhelmed with crowds).

 

Do you think I'd be out of line to ask to spend several hours in a class "helping out" to observe? I'm really curious. In some ways, this just seems like a God-send, as I really feel like I need a break from hs'ing, and I think my ds especially would benefit from having more opportunities to make friends. I also think he could benefit from being taught by someone other than me. He's going into grade 4 next year, and has always been homeschooled, but the issue of making friends seems to be getting more difficult as he get's older.

 

I also need to consider the cost. It's affordable, but I'd need to do some work to pay for it, which is always a challenge when you have a preschooler.

 

Thoughts?

[Dory]

I would get excited to find a school with such low numbers and where there was more than one grade together. Kids tend to be more able to excell in their strong areas when grades are mixed like that, and with the low numbers they would possibly get more help than usual with their weak subjects.

[AimeeM]

I wouldn't care for it. I think there's a huge gap not only between that lower grades (K-3) but also those older grades - a fourth grader vs a preteen in 6th grade? Eh. Not my cuppa. Not only should the academics be on completely different levels (and with only one teacher per "group", how are the differing needs for academics handled?) but the difference in maturity with those ages would make it something I wouldn't consider, personally.

[Kaleidoscope]

I went to a school like that. Granted I was a kid but I loved it. I definitely wouldn't mind it at all dot my kids.

[Ariston]

Do you think I'd be out of line to ask to spend several hours in a class "helping out" to observe? I'm really curious.

 

 

I think its very normal for prospective parents to sit in on classes. I don't know about helping out (some schools around here have rules about who is aloud in as a volunteer) but you should definitely be able to observe for as long as you want. I would also think your child could attend classes for a day if he wanted to. I know that's fairly normal in the public and private schools where I live for kids who are thinking of switching schools.

 

Elena

[Crimson Wife]

When it looked like we might have to stop HS back in '11, I put my kids in the lottery for a Montessori charter school. One of the big attractions was that it had multi-age classes (grades 1-3 and 4-5) and that they would on a case-by-case basis send bright younger kids to the older class for single-subject acceleration. Neither of my kids got a slot at the charter, but I wish more schools offered multi-age classes.

[Hannah]

I went to a school like that. Granted I was a kid but I loved it. I definitely wouldn't mind it at all dot my kids.

 

I did too for primary school. We had grades 1-3, 4-5 and a numbers reshuffle to 5-7. It was an Afrikaans school bringing in and English emmersion stream, so we were part of the larger school when it came to sports and cultural activities and we also had a few classes with the Afrikaans kids (my home language) in grades 6 and 7.

I think my biggest class was 10 kids, so we had loads of individual attention. I remember helping the gr 1's when I was in gr 3 and doing a lot of independant work as well. I have to add that I had the most amazing grade 1-3 teacher. Mrs Olga Kriel. I'd send my kids to a school like that.

 

I'd definately request to observe the classes. The teacher needs to be adept at keeping one group occupied while teaching another.

[Farrar]

I think multi-age classes can be brilliant in the right hands and a huge failure in the wrong ones. So it depends on the teachers and the culture of the school.

 

I think you absolutely should be able to sit in on a class. However, I used to teach at a very small private school and I can tell you we did not allow parents or prospective students to sit in more than once typically. It's necessary because we needed to get students, but it's disruptive to the community and makes the students uncomfortable and often disrupts class - no matter how hard the visitor is trying to be inconspicuous. When you're a small class that's really a community, especially if it's not a sit and face forward and stay silent kind of atmosphere, then adding a new element can make things go a bit off. So don't take it amiss if they turn you down and don't assume it's because they have anything to hide or anything like that.

[sewingmama]

No it wouldn't be a plus for me. We have tons of multi age classes in my area due to low enrolment (including the state schools) and I haven't met one parent yet that liked them and wasn't busting to get their kid out of it. Most teachers have no idea how to run them so they work well. What tends to happen is the teacher focuses on the younger kids and the olders get bored and learn the same types of things over and over.

 

My DH is a school principal and my DD visited the junior class for one day. The class was K-2 . There were a lot of worksheets involved. When the teacher was "teaching" she would basically just hand out worksheets of the same thing but at different levels. My DD had received a very light and sparodic K year of me teaching her here and there so to speak and she was way ahead of the kids in 2nd grade. The teacher gave the class a spelling test and my DD (who I have never given a spelling test or taught any kind of spelling besides reading phonics) was the only one who got all the words right. The words were not hard - pan,run,see, nap etc which I don't consider 2nd grade level at all. The teacher even warned me when I dropped DD off that since she was homeschooled she might be bored. I replied " how bored can a K kid get in a multi age class" - umm yeah. My DD is an average student and they didn't even have readers in the class that went to a high enough level - they were all too easy for her. I felt really bad for the 2nd graders in that class.

 

The class wasn't large either only 10 kids altogether.

 

Mixed grade classes would not be a draw for me at all unless I knew they were being handled correctly -so yes sit in on the class and see how it runs. If the teacher doesn't let you then I personally wouldn't' put my child in it without proof that it is working.

[foxbridgeacademy]

As long as the school accomodated my DC's learning issues and held similar views and values, I would jump up and down in excitement. I teach a 3 hr class once a week of 4th-6th graders. I have had parents ask if I could make exception for their 3rd grader and that's just to young. We are having a young 7th grader come this week to see how it might fit but I'm really not expecting much. The K-3 is too wide of an age range but you don't have to worry about that. As for having to work, if it's only P-T and doesn't cost you more in daycare then you make, it could be fun. Good Luck.

[wapiti]

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Edited January 12, 2016 by wapiti

[Laura Corin]

Village schools in this area commonly have that kind of system. You have to do a lot of research because, with such a small staff and the likelihood of being with one teacher for several years, you have to be confident in them.

 

Laura

[happyhomemaker]

I would consider it, but cautiously. My niece went to a school like that and the first year was fine because she was the youngest in her group. The next year, it was like she was repeating a grade with an extra assignment thrown in here and there. She was SO bored. My SIL pulled her out when it became apparent the work would not be on an appropriate level.

[kentuckymom]

I agree that it could be a wonderful situation or a nightmare, simply depending on how the age mix is handled. Three of my cousins send their kids to a small alternative public school that has a setup similar to that. The parents and kids all love it. Three of the cousins - a dyslexic fourth grader, a typical third grader, and an accelerated second grader, do reading and spelling together. I always wonder how the 4th kid in that group feels :). One of the kids, a first grader (actually, second grade age, but they decided to keep him in pre-K for two years) is on the autism spectrum, and he is thriving at the school. The big kids, both his siblings and cousins and the others, encourage him when he needs encouragement and help him when he needs help. The school had a holiday show in which they played some songs with bells. This kid just wanted to ring his bell all the time. So what they did was stand a 5th grader behind him who held his bell and handed it to him at the appropriate times. in contrast, he wasn't allowed be in the church Christmas show because he wouldn't stop ringing his bell. Now, all the kids, except the first grader I mentioned, are either typical or no more than one grade level advanced or delayed. They can all have their needs met very well. I'm sure it wouldn't work for every kid.

 

In your case, I'd definitely ask if you can observe part of a day and if your son can sit in on part of a day (on two different days). If you can do that, and you both like it, then I think it could be a great choice.

[Celia]

Thanks for all the thoughts ladies. It's really been helpful to me! I'm certainly going to go in and see if I can observe for a day in the classes my kids would be in. I think it would be a great fit for my son, though I'm not entirely sure about my daughter. It seems I really need to see how the teacher handles the class.