How do you tell if your child's classroom is getting too large? Background - My daughter is in Pre-K two days a week. She has two teachers and loves them both. I have met with them and visited their classroom on several occasions. Legally they cannot have more than 10 children per teacher and on a typical day they are under 8 children per teacher on average.
Here are the beginning issues. I recently found out that my child has to share her cubby because of a new student. There is a daily sheet that detail what the children did that day, activities as a group (whether they participated or not), individually, nap and lunch. Recently the daily sheet has had less individual details. I also received a sheet where they did not note which activities my daughter participated in and it also stated that she ate all her lunch, but in her lunch bag she did not touched her apple slices or cheese its. Seeing my daughter is rather quiet I wonder if my child is starting to be overlooked because the class size is starting to grow. I feel her teacher really does love children and cares for them, but perhaps there are just too many? I do plan on speaking with her (is a respectful way).
Bottom line: Is your daughter happy? Does she look forward to her days at pre-K? Does she cling to you when you drop her off? Is she excited (although not necessarily ept) about telling you about her day? Does she mind sharing a cubby?
If so, good. Consider that the teachers may be cutting back on the paperwork--such as the parent daily sheet--to spend the time with the kids.
Possibly a recently enrolled child needs more time and and attention to settle in and your objections won't apply next week or the week after.
Remember, from the teacher's point of view, full enrollment means that expenses (including "professional" salaries) are covered. Obviously you would like to be informed of your daughter's adventures in great detail--but this is for your happiness, not your daughters.
As for the uneaten lunch....kids do that. Why rely on written feedback when you can check the lunch bag? If your daughter is hungry after pre-K, break out her leftovers.
Good luck.
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Miller
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Fri 2 Apr, 2004 10:22 am
Re: Too Many Kids
Linkat wrote:
How do you tell if your child’s classroom is getting too large? Background - My daughter is in Pre-K two days a week. She has two teachers and loves them both. I have met with them and visited their classroom on several occasions. Legally they cannot have more than 10 children per teacher and on a typical day they are under 8 children per teacher on average.
Here are the beginning issues. I recently found out that my child has to share her cubby because of a new student. There is a daily sheet that detail what the children did that day, activities as a group (whether they participated or not), individually, nap and lunch. Recently the daily sheet has had less individual details. I also received a sheet where they did not note which activities my daughter participated in and it also stated that she ate all her lunch, but in her lunch bag she did not touched her apple slices or cheese its. Seeing my daughter is rather quiet I wonder if my child is starting to be overlooked because the class size is starting to grow. I feel her teacher really does love children and cares for them, but perhaps there are just too many? I do plan on speaking with her (is a respectful way).
If you're dissatified with the school, perhaps you should change schools.
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Linkat
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Fri 2 Apr, 2004 10:29 am
Some great points Noddy thanks. I completely understand from a business side, but as a parent I need to make sure my child is cared for appropriately.
Receiving the detail information is not as important to me and whether my daughter eats her whole lunch I am not so concerned about. I am concerned that by the teachers getting information incorrect, they are not noticing my child. I feel this could be an indication the class is getting too large. To be honest I would feel comfortable with a sheet that was printed off the computer just stating the activities of the day and the teacher noting or speaking with you if there were any issues.
She is basically happy there and like I say she absolutely loves her teachers and I like them too. She is not excited to tell me about her day, but I think it is more her personality and not an indication of her not enjoying herself. I am not at all dissatisfied with the teachers and do not fault them at all. I worry that like all businesses, they want to make as much money as possible and will "overcrowd" the room, leaving my daughter behind unintentionally.
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Linkat
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Fri 2 Apr, 2004 10:35 am
Miller - I am not generally dissatisfied with the school. My daughter's teachers seem to truly care about the children and you can see the teacher love the teachers. It is only recently that there seems to be some things falling through the cracks-minor, but I worry this is an indication of the future.
I guess a good question is are there any indicators I should look out for to see if these are just some temporary or one time type issues or could they grow?
I also do not want to move my child unless absolutely necessary. Children like stability.
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Miller
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Fri 2 Apr, 2004 10:57 am
In any day care program, such as that in which your child is enrolled, I would worry about possible child abuse and the occurance of a fire. If there are too few teachers, how are the kids going to be evacuated in case there's an emergency?
If you can, one thing you might do, is plan an unexpected visit to the day care center. That way, you might be better able to get a handle on how well things are being operated. You'll also have the opportunity to see what types of employees work there.
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Linkat
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Fri 2 Apr, 2004 11:22 am
Miller - Thanks for the thoughts. My husband and I have done that in the past. We have made unexpected and expected visits. The school is very open about that. I also spend some time just chatting with the teachers whenever I get a chance. I figure it is always helpful to get to know them as much as possible. The way the school is set up, it would be difficult for any abuse unless it was very subtle. Believe me I did so much research prior to sending my child, I only choose two schools after all my research that I would consider sending her - seeing she started at 4. I even talked with the woman from the state service that grants licenses to daycare and early education schools.
But perhaps you are right - we will have to have another unexpected visit. In addition, we are checking out some other possibilities as kindergarten is just around the corner. We may move her for kindergarten as she will have to move in another year any way.
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Miller
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Fri 2 Apr, 2004 01:07 pm
Linkat wrote:
Miller – Thanks for the thoughts. My husband and I have done that in the past. We have made unexpected and expected visits. The school is very open about that. I also spend some time just chatting with the teachers whenever I get a chance. I figure it is always helpful to get to know them as much as possible. The way the school is set up, it would be difficult for any abuse unless it was very subtle. Believe me I did so much research prior to sending my child, I only choose two schools after all my research that I would consider sending her – seeing she started at 4. I even talked with the woman from the state service that grants licenses to daycare and early education schools.
But perhaps you are right – we will have to have another unexpected visit. In addition, we are checking out some other possibilities as kindergarten is just around the corner. We may move her for kindergarten as she will have to move in another year any way.
The way things are today, I'd plan on carrying out several unexpected visits. How often do they have fire drills?
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Linkat
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Fri 2 Apr, 2004 01:34 pm
I do not remember, but I did see it in their manual. I know that it was not too long ago that they did have a fire drill. The good thing about the setup of their school is that they have a door directly to go outside each classroom, so there should be no reason not to have a quick exit. Also being a new building, it has sprinklers, etc. You wouldn't happen to be a fireman would you?
Luckily my husband works from home (when he isn't visiting a client), so he does drop in. Sometimes he picks her up early to spend some quality dad and daughter time.
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Miller
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Fri 2 Apr, 2004 04:38 pm
No, I'm not a Fireman. I do, however, consider fire to be something to be taken very seriously.
Do the kids take naps at the Center?
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Eva
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Fri 2 Apr, 2004 04:51 pm
I tend to agree with Noddy. As long as your daughter seems happy and well-adjusted, I wouldn't worry too much. Sounds like a good school to me.
When my son was in preschool, there were times when I didn't get regular reports, too. I suppose that's fairly common. We don't pay those people enough, you know. I just made a point of stopping by the class and talking to the teacher regularly whenever that happened, so I could get the information I needed. As long as they don't have a problem with that, there's no need for you to assume there's a major problem.
I've known plenty of parents (I bet you have, too!) who yanked their kids out of setting after setting everytime there was the slightest issue. Poor kids. I moved mine only once, when he was 2-1/2 yrs. old and the staff at a Mother's Day Out freaked over his biting another child (perfectly average behavior at that age, I learned) and said they couldn't handle it. I got him into a more professional setting and they knew what to do. It stopped very quickly. Still, even that move was somewhat traumatic for him.
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Turner 727
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Fri 2 Apr, 2004 11:58 pm
Whew! I thought someone figured out where I lived, and looked in my house!
The question shouldn't be, Are there too many kids in my kid's classroom?, but Does my kid's teacher have too many students? Let's face it, a class of 30 that's a breeze for one teacher is overload for another.
Looks like there's enough advice here, so I'll shut up now.
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roger
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Sat 3 Apr, 2004 12:09 am
Re: Too Many Kids
Linkat wrote:
Legally they cannot have more than 10 children per teacher and on a typical day they are under 8 children per teacher on average. .
Just off hand, at either 8:1 or 10:1, those sound like awfully good ratios.
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Miller
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Sat 3 Apr, 2004 12:35 am
10 kids running around for 8 hours, screaming and laughing sounds like a big migraine to me!
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Eva
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Sat 3 Apr, 2004 03:25 pm
I agree, Miller. They couldn't pay me enough to do it. I'm one of those people who's good with kids one-on-one, not in groups. But I'm awfully grateful there are people out there who feel differently.
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Linkat
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Mon 5 Apr, 2004 11:36 am
Yes! Mass law requires that they have naps.
I agree that the teachers are underpaid. They center owners though makes lots. I would never yank my child out unless there were major issues. I just wanted to see if there were suggestions on other things to look out for just in case. Although I may move her because kindergarten starts next year and even though they have kindergarten, I may want her to go in the same school as first grade.
There was over 10 on my last visit and poor was it loud. According to the owner my daughter's is the loudest classroom.
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ehBeth
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Mon 5 Apr, 2004 04:46 pm
Linkat - have you had more incidents of things being reported incorrectly? Is your daughter generally happy to be at school when your husband pops by?
Generally, it sounds (from your initial posts) like you've got your daughter in a place that is quite well organized and run. I was particularly impressed by your report of the separate exits from all of the rooms. That certainly isn't common in most homes or schools. The apparent openness to parents popping in, and spending extra time with their kids is really nice as well. Not an option at all facilities.
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Linkat
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Tue 6 Apr, 2004 10:41 am
Oh I think it is generally a wonderful place and am happy with it. I just want to be an aware parent and nip things in the bud before anything negative happens. I also do not want to be an annoying parent. Just wanted to have confirmation and any suggestions if there should be something else to be on the lookout. My children are the most important think for me and if I have to place them in some one else's care I want complete confidence in them. I probably worry too much.
I also realized after asking my daughter some more questions, that it made sense for her to share her space. The girl she is sharing her space attends on different days than her so it is only logical. She is generally happy when my husbands pops by - also I took a day off from work last month just so I could spend time with my youngest alone and to pop by the school. My daughter basically ignored me and continued with her work and once it was finished she went off to play with her friends. The other kids in the class talked with me more.
I am surprised that the openness to parents popping in is not more common. Every school I checked out had this policy. I would not feel comfortable if they did not have this policy. Seeing it is my child I will damn well pop in whenever I want.
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lost my calgon
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Thu 8 Apr, 2004 07:55 pm
Yes...isn't the trials and tribulations of childcare just a gas??!! Honestly if you feel uncomfortable and your motherly gut instinct is telling you that something is wrong, then find a new childcare facility.
I wish I had the luxury to afford childcare, even if it was only a few days a week, but not all familys can be so lucky. If you haven't figured it out I hate the childcare system in this country. Sweetie I say you should transition your little one somewhere else where you can gain peace of mind! Good Luck. :wink:
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Linkat
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Mon 12 Apr, 2004 09:47 am
Thanks lost - as a result of a few of these issues we looked into a couple of things. Since my daughter will be starting kindergarten in the fall whether she stays, goes to public school or a new location, she will either have to move this fall of next year, we decided to check all options out. Public concerned me as she would be bused to another facility for after school care. We decided to check some private schools out.
We got a couple of recommendations for some church associated schools, as they are more affordable. One of these schools was about half the price of the other and was a little better located for us. Since they only had two openings left, we decided to check them out first. We were pleasantly surprised. I called our local child care service to check them out, unfortunately they are "exempted", so they did not have a case history, but I did receive some valuable information from them and many suggestions. One is they did suggest it would be better to move her for kindergarten as she will be with the same children and have progressed the same when she enters first grade. We happen to know a couple of the parents of children attending this school so we were able to speak with them. So looks like she will be attending there. Bonus - we will be saving over $100 a month compared to where she was attending and will be attending one more day a week.
If this is what looking for kindergarten is like - what am I going to do when she goes to high school!
Yes...isn't the trials and tribulations of childcare just a gas??!! Honestly if you feel uncomfortable and your motherly gut instinct is telling you that something is wrong, then find a new childcare facility.
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