preschool class size question

Do you think a class the size of 17 with a teacher and one assistant is too
big?? This is for 3 year olds.

I just wonder if I've been spoiled by a class of 10 with a teacher and one
assistant.

BTW, I'm baaaaack! But with AOL broadband giving us a headache, who knows for
how long. :-D

TIA,
Stephanie
Jake and Ryan 9/3/99

Stephanie --

That seems big to me. Our preschool limited it to 12 with two teachers,
even in the 4-year-old class.

Julie
Mom to Erica & Chris, 07/97

GandSBrock wrote:

Do you think a class the size of 17 with a teacher and one assistant is too
big?? This is for 3 year olds.

I just wonder if I've been spoiled by a class of 10 with a teacher and one
assistant.

BTW, I'm baaaaack! But with AOL broadband giving us a headache, who knows for
how long. :-D

TIA,
Stephanie
Jake and Ryan 9/3/99

Subject: preschool class size question
From: "The Fackrell's"
Date: Wed, Jul 23, 2003 8:22 AM
Message-id: %xwTa.114051$GL4.29834@rwcrnsc53

I'm not sure if it varies by State or not

Having worked in day care in more than one state -- I can tell you it very much
does. Some states have *horrid* ratios. Other states are not bad at all.

.....in California I believe its
a 5
to 1 ratio, maybe 6 to 1....17 to 2 is too big in my opinion!

I worked in California and it was 4:1 for infants. It was higher for toddlers
and even higher for preschoolers. Can't remember what age was the official
dividing line between the latter two.

In Minnesota (which has as good of ratios I've seen anywhere) it was 7:1 for
toddlers and 10:1 for preschool -- 33 months being the separation point between
the two. So 17:1 sounds about right to me.

Lori

When I was teaching before Alexis was born there were two of us and we
CO-taught 3-K it was 2/17. I can tell you from the teacher's perspective it
was a real challenge. In Alexis' preschool it was 2/6. That was wonderful
but, not the norm. She will be going to public school this year and I am
curious to find out what the ratio will be.

~If you remember in a previous post I asked opinions on the Dual Language
program we were considering. Well, we decided to go with it and Alexis starts
Spanish/English 4-K on August 18.

Generally you will have better ratios at private schools.
I found this average on the gov website.

http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2003/overview03/table_06.asp
~Kimberly
Mommy to Alexis Iliana 07/17/99 and
Emma Elidia & Aislyn Gabriela 10/01/02
come see us...
http://www.babiesonline.com/babies/a/aislynemma/

With James' co-op preschool last year (CA) we had to have 1 parent/teacher
per 5 kids

--
Gwen, Designer Wraps
SAHM to James (9-98) Austin and Amber (5-02)


tired of eBay? Try these great alternatives!
www.tobuytwo.com ....auction house for families of multiples (but singletons
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www.familyauction.com
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www.wahmauctions.com

"Rhiann1048" wrote in message
...
Subject: preschool class size question
From: "The Fackrell's"
Date: Wed, Jul 23, 2003 8:22 AM
Message-id: %xwTa.114051$GL4.29834@rwcrnsc53

I'm not sure if it varies by State or not

Having worked in day care in more than one state -- I can tell you it very
much
does. Some states have *horrid* ratios. Other states are not bad at all.

....in California I believe its
a 5
to 1 ratio, maybe 6 to 1....17 to 2 is too big in my opinion!

I worked in California and it was 4:1 for infants. It was higher for
toddlers
and even higher for preschoolers. Can't remember what age was the official
dividing line between the latter two.

In Minnesota (which has as good of ratios I've seen anywhere) it was 7:1
for
toddlers and 10:1 for preschool -- 33 months being the separation point
between
the two. So 17:1 sounds about right to me.

Lori

Preschool I'm pretty sure was 18/2 with one parent sometimes. Now in grade
school it's 22/1. But I went to school with 44/1 and we did ok, though the
teachers in the Catholic school in the 50's had a lot more control over the
kids than now (not that I am a proponent of capital punishment).

Shirley
Chris and Kathleen 1/95

"The Fackrell's" wrote in message
news:nayTa.114465$GL4.30169@rwcrnsc53...
With James' co-op preschool last year (CA) we had to have 1 parent/teacher
per 5 kids

--
Gwen, Designer Wraps
SAHM to James (9-98) Austin and Amber (5-02)


tired of eBay? Try these great alternatives!
www.tobuytwo.com ....auction house for families of multiples (but
singletons
can use it too!)
www.familyauction.com
www.wahmall.com
www.wahmauctions.com

"Rhiann1048" wrote in message
...
Subject: preschool class size question
From: "The Fackrell's"
Date: Wed, Jul 23, 2003 8:22 AM
Message-id: %xwTa.114051$GL4.29834@rwcrnsc53

I'm not sure if it varies by State or not

Having worked in day care in more than one state -- I can tell you it
very
much
does. Some states have *horrid* ratios. Other states are not bad at
all.

....in California I believe its
a 5
to 1 ratio, maybe 6 to 1....17 to 2 is too big in my opinion!

I worked in California and it was 4:1 for infants. It was higher for
toddlers
and even higher for preschoolers. Can't remember what age was the
official
dividing line between the latter two.

In Minnesota (which has as good of ratios I've seen anywhere) it was 7:1
for
toddlers and 10:1 for preschool -- 33 months being the separation point
between
the two. So 17:1 sounds about right to me.

Lori

At the preschool my girls attend there is one teacher for ten students in the
three-year-old class and one teacher for twelve students in the four-year-old
class. Of course, parents rotate and there is almost always a parent in the
class in addition to the teacher. There is also an assistant who rotates
between three different classes-- so if a class is desperate for help, you just
shout down the hall and the asst. comes running. Things go pretty smoothly
with the one teacher and one parent. I would think things would get pretty
hairy with only one adult-- especially for the three-year-olds. 17:1 seems way
out of line for three-year-olds, IMO.

-Cindy (mom to Ashlyn and Allyson 6/99 and Jenna 6/03)

In article ,
says...

Do you think a class the size of 17 with a teacher and one assistant is too
big?? This is for 3 year olds.

I just wonder if I've been spoiled by a class of 10 with a teacher and one
assistant.

BTW, I'm baaaaack! But with AOL broadband giving us a headache, who knows for
how long. :-D

TIA,
Stephanie
Jake and Ryan 9/3/99

Yes, 17 is much too big!! I thought, in CA anyway, that there is a limit of
about 5 per adult?? I could be wrong, but that seems much more manageable.
With 17, it would be like each adult caring for octuplets every day. I just
couldn't imagine how that many kids could benefit from just 2 adults.
Anyway, just MHO.

Stephanie writes:
Do you think a class the size of 17 with a teacher and one assistant
is too big?? This is for 3 year olds.

Stephanie
Jake and Ryan 9/3/99

But your kids will already be 4, when the school year starts, right?
How old are most of the kids in the class? Are yours going to be the
very oldest?

In the preschool my kids go to, the cutoff date is December 2 (i.e., the
kids in the 3yo class are 3 by Dec 2, and the kids in the 4yo class are
4 by Dec 2). So here your kids would be in the 4yo class, not the 3yo
class. I think the suitable ratio could be quite different in the two
cases.

There are no parents in the classroom? I like programs where the
parents are occasionally in the classroom (even just 1 day/month); not
only for the extra adult supervision but just to keep the parents in
touch with what's going on.

David desJardins

David,

If is it like our area, he cutoff date is September 1. Since they won't be
4 until after September 1 they have to go to the 3 yr old class.

~Kimberly
Mommy to Alexis Iliana 07/17/99 and
Emma Elidia & Aislyn Gabriela 10/01/02
come see us...
http://www.babiesonline.com/babies/a/aislynemma/