Does anyone have any experience with

tiredmommy

Well-Known Member
multiage education? This is different than multiple grades in the classroom, looping or blended classes. I'm considering putting Duckie in the 1st-3rd grade program at her school. My thought is that she may benefit socially from mixing with different ages because she's an only child. There are kids of all ability levels in all three grades in three classrooms that work closely together.
Whatcha think?
 

dreamer

New Member
the only time any of my kids was in a multiage classroom was when oldest difficult child was in self contained ed-bd classroom, it spanned grades 6-8.........the age group it spanned was much greater than that becuz several of the kids were Learning Disability (LD) and had failed several grades, while a couple kids - like my dtr- were from TAG program........and also becuz out of 8 kids in the class my dtr was the ONLY girl. - so all around our experience was quite negative. On many different levels.
 

Wiped Out

Well-Known Member
Staff member
TM,
I have lots of experience with multi-aging. I taught 6-8 for several years and have taught 4-5 multiage for many years. This year I'm doing a straight grade but will go back to muliaging probably after next year. This year difficult child is in a multiage classroom. At the 4/5 level most schools in our district multiage.

I think there are several pros to multiaging as well as there are cons.

One pro is that the teacher really gets to know the students and when starting a new year knows right where to pick up. The teacher also gets to know the parents well which is a plus. The student feels comfortable starting knowing their teacher. There can be great role models, kids in a multiage classroom can be well challenged with older children. Children struggling that are older often have others in the room perhaps younger who are at there level.

Some cons are math instruction-generally we grade leveled for math-someone would teach one grade and someone else another one. For some children being with certain children several years can be difficult. Doing standardized testing can be hard because each grade level has different tests and different times.

I had a friend whose son was in a 1-3 multiage. She like it for him when he was younger but not when he was older.

A lot depends on how well the teacher makes it work. Some are great at it, others struggle.

Let us know what you decide!
 

dreamer

New Member
yeah, I know it does not sound the same at all, thats why I said that was thew only experience I had with that type of thing- sorry
 

tiredmommy

Well-Known Member
Sharon, thank you! Each teacher does take a grade level for math. They also lose less than 10% of their incoming 3rd graders back into the general population. This school's program will be in it's 10th year starting next fall, the newest teacher in the program has been there four years after teaching 2nd grade for several years before that. One of the teachers approached me and said she's heard Duckie would be excellent for the program and that those students with involved parents tend to do the best. I really am leaning toward it. I guess my only concern is that the positive aspects could become negative if Duckie has a hard time going back to a regular class in fourth grade.
 

donna723

Well-Known Member
TM, it's not quite the same thing but when we first moved here, there were several little rural 3-room "community elementary schools", in addition to the larger one in town. Kindergarten was only in the main school. Each community school had one class of grades 1 to 4, one class of grades 5 to 8, and a Special Education room. My daughter and two other kids were the entire third grade! :laugh: :smile: :grin: And for her, it worked out very well. She and the other two third-graders all made good grades and they kind of pushed and challenged each other. She had transferred from an excellent parochial school in Florida and was ahead in many subjects so she was allowed to take her better subjects with the fourth grade rather than repeat what she had already done the year before and be bored.

She went to this school from the third through the sixth grade when they finally closed down and consolidated the community schools, and everyone was sorry to see them close. The kids loved it there! I wish my son had been able to go there for his first few years, but they had already closed them before he started school. He would have done really well there and would have been more challenged in with the older kids. But instead, he spent his first couple of years bored to tears!

Kind of weird to think about, but they could fit the entire student body, faculty, a driver and several parents on to one school bus for field trips!
 

tiredmommy

Well-Known Member
Thanks, Donna. I kind of like the idea the idea of it being a "one room school" within the larger school. They aren't "separate" from the standard classrooms so they aren't treated differently by the other students that I've seen. I was in a 5/6 graded class for gifted students where they actually placed us outside the school in a trailer, lol! Most of us had a difficult time re-blending into the student body in the 7th grade because the other students treated us like something must have been wrong with us because we were segregated. I moved to a different school in 6th grade, where the same program was just started. I did well there because we were pushed to excel in our classroom but had lunch, library, music, art, recess & gym out with the rest of our peers. We weren't thought of as freaks so much. :smile:
 

dreamer

New Member
Oh i hate those trailers outside the buildings, all 3 of my kids were in those in middle school. YUK.- but their lockers are inside the main building and they are not allowed to bring backpacks and coats out to the trailer.
 

oceans

New Member
My difficult child is now in a small therapeutic school and there are only about 35 students in the whole school. The teacher ratio is 4-6 students to 1 teacher. There are multiple grade levels together, and he is doing very well. The teachers usually work with the kids at the grade level that they need to be on. This is so small, that is probably is not the same, but he is really benefiting from it.
 

tiredmommy

Well-Known Member
Thanks, Oceans. The teachers explained that the students work to an age appropriate level and that all state testing requirements must be met. The good news is that Duckie is pretty bright and can level ahead if warranted. Also, she has built in support if she struggles because she will do most of her classwork (except math) at the appropriate developmental level for her. Ex: if she struggles in writing arts while a 2nd grader she can be grouped with others at that level (1st graders) with no stigma attached.
 

SRL

Active Member
They have portable classrooms at several schools in our district and they are well recieved by most teachers and kids. They are very close to the building and usually are roomier and nicer than the regular classrooms.

TM, I've had friends with kids in various alternative programs and no matter what the arrangement it always seems to get back to the child and how well their temperament is suited to the program.
 

LittleDudesMom

Well-Known Member
TM, I thing you really do have to know your child. I don't think it works with every kid. I know it would not have worked with my difficult child, but easy child probably would have liked it and excelled.

difficult child did loop in K/1 and that was a wonderful experience! Most of the kids were intimidated about first grade and then we found out just two weeks before school started, that oru school received a looping grant and difficult child's class/teacher was chosen.

difficult child's school has done two multiage rooms at the lower elementary level and it, like the program at Duckie's school, is a parent opt-in program. The classes are always full and we are talking Duckie's age level.

I know you will make the right choice for Duckie.

Sharon
 

tiredmommy

Well-Known Member
Thanks SRL & LDM. I'm going to visit next week to see for myself the rhythm of the classrooms. Busy, It seems like it actually caters to a child like Duckie, who teeters on the edge of gfgdom constantly.
 
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