I know that a lot of schools/teachers are getting into looping — that means that your child would have the same teacher for two (or possibly more) years. I thought I would share the pros and cons that I’ve had in regards to this:
Pro’s:
1. If you have a great teacher, it’s so relaxing to stick with them. Our school did give us the option to leave Miss Dodson, and I think that’s only fair. I mean, if you’re having issues with the teacher, you definately wouldn’t want to stay for another year.
2. The teacher already knows your child’s strengths and weaknesses. It’s nice to go in on day one with her knowing that Conner struggles with struggling (that’s a blog for another day). She doesn’t have to do all that testing to figure out how she can best help him (although, she still does — stupid no child left behind).
3. It’s nice to build strong friendships. I know that if Conner is ever in trouble he can go to those kids he knows so well. They are fierce about each other. Miss Dodson did promote that they were a class and they were to stand-up for each other… but these kids were special. On a side-note they were all hand-picked to be in a 1/2 combo and that made it extra nice that he was with some of the smartest/easiest to get along with kids.
Con’s:
1. The teacher already knows your child. This could also be considered bad. She might anticipate problems he’s going to have or whatnot. I would still put this higher on the pro side, than the con side.
2. I woudn’t have been so happy to have JUST the same friends for 2 years. We were lucky in that 1/2 of our class came-up with us, and the other half went to 3rd grade and we got some new friends in there. I appreciated how that did change the dynamic of things, etc.
3. Your child is already comfortable with the teacher. Conner never went through the phase of wanting to impress her, or being shy enough that he didn’t act-up in class. That’s a big of a honeymoon stage and I know it doesn’t last long — but at least it’s something. 🙂 I just had to make sure he was always being respectful and keeping himself in check.
All in all, I loved it — but I know people whose experience didn’t work-out so well. Those are my thoughts!
Rush says
I’ve never heard of looping before. Interesting. I still think it’s weird that more elementary schools aren’t structured like the amazing public elementary school I went to in TX. We didn’t have one teacher all day, but everyone had math at the same time, and we brought our tote trays to the teachers for math, had a different teacher for language arts, one for homeroom, etc. It was nice to change the setting & teacher–especially for short attention spans! That’s kinda how Bryce’s old charter school did it, too, and it worked fabulously for kids of all levels.