*I copied this into CMT forum to get more replies. THanks!

Hi Teachers!

My daughter's teacher sent a notice home today that says due to overcrowding, there will be a new, combined 1st-2nd grade class starting next week, and that students from all classes will be pulled out to form the new class.

My daughter has been identified as gifted and is already taking part in a combined gifted learning evironment with her (1st grader), two second graders, and a third grader, so I think she'd do just fine.

My chief concern is that the school would pull the more advanced first graders and the lagging second graders, thus making a more even playing field. My daughter could surpass a lagging second grader, so I fear her being held up. I don't know if this is what schools typically do or not. That's why I'm here.

I KNOW that combining ages can work. I home schooled my daughters, five years apart, together, and they both learned from one another. But I do have concerns.

Do any of you have any experience with combined classrooms? How do they generally select the students for such classes? Are they successful, all in all?

I have had six children go through elementary school in a combined classroom. They all learned a lot and it was a great advantage to have a combined age group.