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Well we obviously had a better experience than some. The school was on a huge piece of property, so the older kids had lots of room to run and play sports while the younger kids were confined to the playground area. Lunches and gym were at different times, but all the kids were in one building, just different wings.
The pros far outweighed the cons. The older kids would write stories and read them with the younger ones, and they were very good about keeping kids under control on the bus. I found the older kids to be protective, not exploitive of the little ones.
My oldest went right into an academically rigorous private high school with no problems.
YES! K-8 is the way to go. Did you google "K-8 better school configurations" or anything like that? There are actual studies that indicate K-8 is better for academics and discipline.
We have been in a PK3-12 school, my son is in 8th, and it's been great. No typical middle school issues.
I teach at a K-8 currently, and I'm a K teacher. It works out fine as far as I can tell, although I admit I don't spend a lot of time near the big kid classrooms. Mine have different recesses than the older kids (actually, K recess is completely separate from everyone else). I don't see any infiltration of bad language or anything like that down to my kids. We occasionally bring the K's over to read stories with the middle-schoolers. It's good for the little kids who love the attention of a middle school buddy and great practice for struggling middle school readers.
In 4th grade they begin changing classrooms for science only. The 6-8th graders change classrooms for LA, Math, History, etc in addition to Science (the same science teacher teaches the 4th and 5th grade science).
The school is under 400 students in a rural area. High school is a few blocks away. The kids have, for the most part, been together since kindergarten so the transition to high school probably is not a huge issue.
But my kids attend a private K-8 school and it works out fine, though it is a religous affiliated school so they are taught morals and how to behave from a young age. Not to mention most private schools REQUIRES parental involvement and public does not, it is often those children whose parents are NOT involved in their lives or education that have the most behavioral issues.
So their may be more problems trying to do this in a public setting. Your K's may come home having learned some new words ....
My son attends a public K-5 and rides in the front of the bus, since he is in K and that's the bus driver's policy...all K's in the front. But the kids in the back have learned some choice words already...
I went to a private K-8 and I remember some choice words in 5th grade or so...kids learn those words all over the place now: home, TV, games, public places, older siblings.
I'm enjoying this discussion. I have to admit I still have some skepticism b/c this would be new for my area, outside of magnet schools, so there is the guinea pig factor. In a school district that already has its issues. Those things are what bother me the most. I don't want anyone's need to not be met. But there are some good ideas here for how a K-8 school can be successful. Thanks again for your comments!
We occasionally bring the K's over to read stories with the middle-schoolers. It's good for the little kids who love the attention of a middle school buddy and great practice for struggling middle school readers.
At least one of the K-8s in my district does this as well. They also use the older kids as "reading partners" for the struggling readers in the early ele grades.
I'm not a parent, but I think this might help (or not), I've read reviews of some researches online, done in the US which state that many kids form preK-8 schools are doing better than kids from divided schools so I'm agreeing with you and in my opinion its a good idea (this student would definitely appreciate it!), thnx 4 reading
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