Yup, there are certainly great benefits to looping is both teacher and the parents feels it's necessary.

At our school, it's not true looping cos the teacher will only keep 8 children from her previous class. One of my friends is keeping her 3rd grader with his current teacher who will be moved to teaching 4th grade next year. My son on the other hand needs a change although he has done very well with his current teacher.

I definitely agree that there are overwhelming benefits to keeping the same teachers. I am glad to see that others have had such wonderful experiences.

However, let's remember that there is good and bad to this arrangement. I shudder to think that my daughter could have had the same teacher that she did the year before last!! I guess eventually the teacher would have gotten better but I would have hated to risk it. The teacher she had this year was phenomenal and I wish we could keep her until our daughter graduates college :-).

As a looping teacher, there's nothing quite like hitting the ground running in September! Most parents find it beneficial - the emotional bond is there, they're familiar with expectations and students generally appreciate having the same set of kids the following year. It's always good to keep communication open with the teacher; if you're uncomfortable with the idea of looping, find out more about the curriculum, ask how the teacher will try to keep it fresh, and ask how you can be involved in the life of the class!

I think the it will be a good idea for my son to stay with his 2nd grade teacher now that he is going to 3rd. They had a slow start understanding each other, but now my son respect his teacher and likes her, and I think this feeling is mutual, plus she is an excellent teacher.

At our charter school, the teachers stay with the kids in 3 or 4 year loops. That way the kids and teachers get to know each other very well and for the most part, works in a positive way. You can say that the teacher is bonded with the students in her class. If your son loves his teacher, I think it's a great idea to stay with this teacher. There will be lots of opportunity for change in the future. I would grab on to this chance for consistency with a good teacher!

I think that our children would benefit a great deal by having the same teacher two years in a row “IF” he or she is a good teacher; The teacher can get to know the student and parent(s) better and I believe the student would feel more comfortable working on improvements where needed.

My daughter had the same teacher in 4th and 5th grade. She did very well. If you have a great teacher that your child likes it will only be a plus.

If your child's teacher is good I think it would be great to have them a second year. I'd rather know my child will have a great teacher next year than possibly end up with a not so great teacher, which is what happened to my son this year. There's plenty of time for exposure to new teachers. The stability of having the same teacher will build confidence in your child. Your child knows what's expected of them and how to interact with the teacher. And the teacher is already aware of any learning, health or behaviour issues your child may have. It's a win-win situation.

We had a great teacher last year for 1st grade at a really good school. Due to redistricting my son ended up in a brand new school unfortunately with a teacher whose communication skills with the parents was non-existent. The teacher went out for arm surgery, came back part-time with a sub. Then the teacher ended up leaving altogether and now we have a permanent sub who has a business & technology background, not teaching. The confusion this has caused we believe has somewhat affected our son's grades and he's not as far ahead as he would have been overwise. The class hasn't got to go on a field trip or do anything fun like that. We found out later that my son's 1st grade teacher was teaching 2nd grade this year. I wish we would have stayed at that school. We're going to go back to his previous school next year due to all the problems we had this year. Granted, it may just be the teacher and an inexperienced principal in handling the situation, but we're not taking chances. The school's overcrowded already as well due to redistricting errors with 26 or so kids in his class.

If it's a good match then I would consider that a blessing. There are many years ahead, plenty of time to experience new teachers. Enjoy 2nd grade! :)

My daughter had the same teacher in her 3rd and the 4th grade year and it was okay for her. So since he does have a good teacher and they know each other well he will only benefit from it so it will be a win-win situation.

This question is tricky because there is a chance that your child gets stuck with a bad teacher for two years. But I would strongly support having the same teacher for the 2nd and 3rd grades since the FCAT preparation is so critical. Having that same structure and teaching style would cut down on the adjustment period in the first part of the 3rd grade and hopefully create a more positive experience and better FCAT scores.

Personally, if she likes her teacher and the teacher is teaching a good curriculam and she is learning everything she needs to know I would be all for it, I wish my daughter had the same teacher next year!! Also there are so many more school years left and she is going to have a wide variety of different teachers through the years.

Thank you all again for your responses. I personally think that change is good (most of the time). I talked with my son who loves his teacher, but said he wouldn;t mind going to a new teacher. When I met his teacher. She said that although he has done very well with her, perhaps change will be good for for son.

I think a goood teacher is a blessing, and my son's teacher is phenomenal. However, one has to deal with all sorts of people and that it should be no different for our children as they are growing up. As his teacher pointed out, he will be fine with any teacher. Cheers.

Wow. You are so lucky. Take it as a blessing.

I'm really sick of teachers lies. Who can you go to when you catch a teacher out right lying to you or your child. I can't tell you how angry I get at some of my son's High School teachers. There's nothing that can be done, I don't believe the schools can do anything about it because of the unions. My son has a teacher right now that the worst, and everyone knows it.

I think it's very important to change teachers. At the same time if my son could have been allowed to have all the same good teachers through out school, I'd go for that, Because he's had some really bad teachers.

I think it is very good for the children to have the same teacher for 2 years. The teacher gets to know the students needs and the student learns the teachers expectations. Stress from the new teacher every year is greatly reduced. The 2nd year the teacher and students are able to skip the introductory time and get right into the learning and teaching mode.

It has its pros and cons. It really depends on the teacher and how you felt about it at the time of the situation. It is good cause teachers would know the ability each child can do.

This all depends on the teacher & the passion he or she has for these children. My daughter had a teacher that moved up with the class for three years & it worked out fine. This teacher formed life long relation ships with some of her students. Sometimes certain children can benefit from this sort of bonding it makes learning more comfortable. I feel that teachers also benefit in the same way.

A lot of times teachers will "loop" and keep their same class for 2 years in a row. The teachers I know who have done this like it because they don't have to take so much time in Sept getting to know the students and their abilities and can just go from where they left off in June. My son's school (very small private school) has the same teacher for grades K-3 and then 4-8 and the kids really get comfortable with that teacher and the teacher knows their skills and can tailor the lessons to the students' abilities. We have loved having the continuity.

that would be good that way they all ready know who they are.

That I don;t know 1seremen. I would think that was a joint decision. Also, keep in mind that again this year almost 60 teachers will be given a red slip in our school district and so many teachers will be shuffled around. Perhaps, this decision was made to save someone else...I don;t know.

Was the teacher the one who requested for the second grade?

Child_Of_Ra and Parentteacher,

Your response put a lot of things in perspective for me.
Yes, she is a great teacher (she has taught 1st grade for as long as I know!) would she be as good a teacher to teach 2nd grade, I don;t know although that should not be hard for her. But my gut feeling is that I should have a new teacher for my son. She had also initially suggested to me that my son should skip 2nd grade simple because of the advancements he has shown.

This teacher is highly in demand, and I'm torn (as you can tell that I had to bring this up to greatschools! :) She is good, but change is almost always great. I have a meeting with the teacher tomorrow after school. Apparantly, she will, and has asked a few parents to see if she can continue with their children simply becasue she feels that those children need her.
We'll see.
Thanks so much again. Cheers! S

My daughter had the same teacher for grades 2 and 3. She was a sweet lady and my daughter adored her, but beyond that, she wasn't qualified to teach and basically didn't teach, never instructed and let the children flounder in the waters of learning and education.

Perhaps if she was a fantastic teacher I would feel differently, but I personally think that teachers should stick with one grade or if they do move grades, the school needs to place the children from her previous class with another teacher. There's not just the educational standpoint of whether or not a teacher teaches, or whether or not they're a great teacher... it's how they approach teaching altogether. It's how they manage time and the children. Their personalities are different and I think that children being able to experience a broad range of personalities and teaching styles is very important.

It's an excellent question but for me it would come down to - who will the other teacher be? Having taught for many years myself, I can safely say - some teachers are better than others. While I understand your point about wanting a new teacher, will that new teacher be as good a teacher as this one was and will this coming year's teacher be as good a teacher for your son as he had this year?
If so, then your son will have as good a year in second as he did in first but - it's Very Hard to know the answers to those questions. I used to go and observe next year's teachers - they weren't always happy that I did that but doing it let me see what the possibilities were and I'd go so far as to request the teacher I thought was best for my child. They were never happy with that but my children's well-being was more important to me than the brief unhappiness of school administrators and even my fellow teachers.
In your case, you're comparing a known quantity - this year's teacher - to an unknown quanity - next year's teacher. That's hard to do. If it were me, unless I knew for sure there was a Great Teacher for my son in the second grade and I also knew my son was going to be assigned to that teacher - I'd personally stick with the known quantity - if my son had had a good year with the current teacher.
Good luck with your decision.

If your child is successful in that teacher's classroom, why change it. I had the same teacher in 1st and 2nd, and the same math teacher 3 years in high school. He will get plenty of exposure to new teacher and teaching styles throughout his educational career. If you know this teacher is good for him, stick with her, why risk getting a teacher that doesn't work well with your son.

My son had the same teacher for 1st and 2nd grade and then the same teacher for 3rd and 4th grade. It was great. The teacher already knew the kids in the class and it was a great experience. I would recommend it to anyone as long as you and your child get along with the teacher.

One of my twins had the same teacher & classmates two years in a row - twice! It was fine for her, especially the first time. Good teacher & good group of kids.

The second time it happened, I wasn't quite as happy as the teacher really didn't understand my dd's learning disabilities. But she had a pretty good system with my daughter until the last few months when everything fell apart.

This was a large school with four classes at each grade level. It wasn't the normal practice, but for some reason they decided to try it.

Guys, thanks for all your responses.
MagnetMom, it's not a small school. It has 3 classes/grade (22-23 children/class). Although I can't ask for a specific teacher, I can always make a request. In the end the Principal decides what she believes is best for the child. I like my son's first grade teacher, but I'm kindda torn because I think that he should get a new teacher with new ideas and a different teaching style. I'll know more once I meet the teacher and the Principal. Like you guys say, it can go either way, right?

If your son gets along well with this teacher, and you have confidence in her being able to teach second grade, then it's probably not a problem.

If this teacher is creative in her teaching method, OK, but if she is one of the many teachers around, look for a new teacher.

Best wishes!

My first thought is are you actually going to have any choice in it? If it's something that concerns you, weigh all the sides, and discuss it with the principal. On the other hand, if it's a small school, you might not have any options.

For what it's worth, my son's middle school had teachers teach the kids for two years straight (social studies teacher for World History then US History, etc). The nice thing is the relationship is already there, so there's trust and understanding built in. On the other hand, if it's the teacher your son absolutely did not get along with, it would be catastrophic.

And in very small schools, it is common to have the same teacher for two years in a row because there are only so many classes (often less than one per grade level).

We've heard that my daughter's first grade teacher might change grades, and if that were to happen, I'd LOVE to have her again.

Definitely bring your concerns to the principal when you know more, but if it's already in the works, look at all the positives, and know he'll definitely get a new teacher next year.