My 4th grader is going to be in a class with 35 kids!

[Anonymous]

Eek! Tips on “surviving”? She’s a pretty quiet kid. This is not typical for the school, necessarily, but due to various factors that’s how it’s going to be. I’m nervous for her…

[Anonymous]

I went to a public elementary school in NY that had 30-35 kids in it. One teacher, no aide and it was fine. The quiet kids make friends with whoever sits near them in class.

Don't be nervous for your DD - she'll pick up on that. Be confident and excited for her and she'll pick up on that instead.

[Anonymous]

I would not be ok with this. Too many kids. Is this in DMV or another area?

[Anonymous]

That was normal where I grew up and totally fine. I just looked at my yearbook from 1989 and we had 34 kids and yet I remember 4th grade as a chill year.

If it helps, my child is in a classroom half that size and she’s totally dreading it because it’s claustrophobic and she doesn’t have anyone she’s close to in the room. It’s either hang out with one specific group of girls or be on the outskirts for the year. I think larger groups can be better because the room isn’t necessarily dominated by 1-2 big personalities but there can easily be 5-6 shifting groups of kids.

[Anonymous]

It’s not good, for teachers mostly but also for students. However, it is not that uncommon either in public schools. What can you do? Pull her out and send her to a private school or just deal w it. Have her do after school tutoring if you feel she’s not getting enough attention/personal instruction. But it’s unfortunately just another symptom of our broken education system.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Eek! Tips on “surviving”? She’s a pretty quiet kid. This is not typical for the school, necessarily, but due to various factors that’s how it’s going to be. I’m nervous for her…

Trust the process

[Anonymous]

I am so tired of parents thinking that 35 kids in a class twenty years ago is the same as 35 kids today.

NCLB has forced every behavioral child, every child multiple academic years behind, and many children with zero English in one classroom. This was not how it used to be. We used to have newcomer schools to help kids acclimate to new countries. We used to have self-contained classes for kids over 2 years behind. Kids with large behaviors (overturning desks, kicking/hitting kids, temper tantrums in class, etc) used to need to go to the principals office or go home. Now the teacher is expected to handle all of it while meeting everyone’s needs. And then add to that all the special snowflakes with demanding parents.Today’s 35 is not comparable.

OP- are they dividing the class up for math and reading? I know sometimes they leave huge homeroom classes but have a plan for instructional blocks which is really helpful. However, if there are 35 kids for math and/or English I would complain to the school board. That’s not acceptable!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am so tired of parents thinking that 35 kids in a class twenty years ago is the same as 35 kids today.

NCLB has forced every behavioral child, every child multiple academic years behind, and many children with zero English in one classroom. This was not how it used to be. We used to have newcomer schools to help kids acclimate to new countries. We used to have self-contained classes for kids over 2 years behind. Kids with large behaviors (overturning desks, kicking/hitting kids, temper tantrums in class, etc) used to need to go to the principals office or go home. Now the teacher is expected to handle all of it while meeting everyone’s needs. And then add to that all the special snowflakes with demanding parents.Today’s 35 is not comparable.

OP- are they dividing the class up for math and reading? I know sometimes they leave huge homeroom classes but have a plan for instructional blocks which is really helpful. However, if there are 35 kids for math and/or English I would complain to the school board. That’s not acceptable!

Complain all you want, get other parents to complain to, sign petitions. See if anything changes…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am so tired of parents thinking that 35 kids in a class twenty years ago is the same as 35 kids today.

NCLB has forced every behavioral child, every child multiple academic years behind, and many children with zero English in one classroom. This was not how it used to be. We used to have newcomer schools to help kids acclimate to new countries. We used to have self-contained classes for kids over 2 years behind. Kids with large behaviors (overturning desks, kicking/hitting kids, temper tantrums in class, etc) used to need to go to the principals office or go home. Now the teacher is expected to handle all of it while meeting everyone’s needs. And then add to that all the special snowflakes with demanding parents.Today’s 35 is not comparable.

OP- are they dividing the class up for math and reading? I know sometimes they leave huge homeroom classes but have a plan for instructional blocks which is really helpful. However, if there are 35 kids for math and/or English I would complain to the school board. That’s not acceptable!

What newcomer schools are you talking about?

[Anonymous]

Will there be an aide?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Will there be an aide?

No

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Eek! Tips on “surviving”? She’s a pretty quiet kid. This is not typical for the school, necessarily, but due to various factors that’s how it’s going to be. I’m nervous for her…

In some states there are class size limits for elementary grades written into legal code, and if the district doesn't comply then you can sue. As soon as they know you intend to sue, they tend to fix it, because school boards hate to add yet another lawsuit to their plate. You need to look up the law for your state to see if that is an option. Here's some general info.

https://www.nctq.org/blog/A-sizable-opportunity:-thinking-strategically-about-class-size

[Anonymous]

When this happened in my daughter's 4th grade class (in MCPS) they found an extra teacher after the first week of school, and moved some special education and specials to provide the new teacher with their own classroom. DD ended up with the new teacher and had a great year!

I hope the same happens to your kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Eek! Tips on “surviving”? She’s a pretty quiet kid. This is not typical for the school, necessarily, but due to various factors that’s how it’s going to be. I’m nervous for her…

In some states there are class size limits for elementary grades written into legal code, and if the district doesn't comply then you can sue. As soon as they know you intend to sue, they tend to fix it, because school boards hate to add yet another lawsuit to their plate. You need to look up the law for your state to see if that is an option. Here's some general info.

https://www.nctq.org/blog/A-sizable-opportunity:-thinking-strategically-about-class-size

Class size laws in some states are based on an average for the entire school. So in my state and at our school, they mandate a maximum of 22 children per class or something. But in reality, an actual classroom may have 32+ kids because the area’s special behavioral support program is housed in our school, so those two classrooms of 6 kids and 2 teachers and multiple paras make the overall average still less than the maximum legal number of kids per class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am so tired of parents thinking that 35 kids in a class twenty years ago is the same as 35 kids today.

NCLB has forced every behavioral child, every child multiple academic years behind, and many children with zero English in one classroom. This was not how it used to be. We used to have newcomer schools to help kids acclimate to new countries. We used to have self-contained classes for kids over 2 years behind. Kids with large behaviors (overturning desks, kicking/hitting kids, temper tantrums in class, etc) used to need to go to the principals office or go home. Now the teacher is expected to handle all of it while meeting everyone’s needs. And then add to that all the special snowflakes with demanding parents.Today’s 35 is not comparable.

OP- are they dividing the class up for math and reading? I know sometimes they leave huge homeroom classes but have a plan for instructional blocks which is really helpful. However, if there are 35 kids for math and/or English I would complain to the school board. That’s not acceptable!

Actually, you do make some really good points. I was the first person to say I had a class of 35 in public NY school, but I do recall there was a class in our grade of about 15 for the slow/badly behaved kids. NCLB totally sucks. Those kids who "aren't getting left behind" are just lost in a regularly-paced class at best, and interrupting the rest of the class constantly at worst.