24 kids in kindergarten?? That is insane!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:24 is no problem. I used to teach and could manage a classroom of 33 (which was the most I ever had). It takes being outrageously organized, having excellent communication skills, and being very strict.

"Being very strict" ?!? - this is kindergarten! While it is good to have structure, I have seen teachers take the strictness route to extremes (due to large class size, behavior issue kids mixed in the class without enough support, incompetence, personality, etc). It generally has more negative outcomes than positive. Kids start to hate school and are more concerned about getting in trouble than learning. This is not best practice for kindergarten!

And PP - are there any aides in the classroom? Our son had only 22 in his class, but don't think the teacher could have handled even that number without the great aide who was assigned!

I agree that " strict" in kindergarten can cause major issues. That said, there's a difference between strict mean and strict nice, and I have had experience with both. Both teachers kept great control of the classroom. The mean one just had to make kids cry and hate school to get to that place. The other one kept things in great order but you could tell she respected the children and they respected her in turn.

[Anonymous]

My DC just finished K in MCPS - 24 kids in the class. Teacher was wonderful in that my child loved her, and DC's reading skills blossomed under her. They had reading groups, and while the teacher was with the one reading group, the others had other assignments they were supposed to do.

But there were a few unruly kids that seem to always get into trouble (at least every time I volunteered). The teacher would give them time outs and take away privileges. A lot of times, it didn't seem to help that much. However, during circle time, with the exception of one or two kids, most of the kids seem to behave.

24 is largish, but for a good teacher, not unmanageable.

[Anonymous]

My child had 29 is grade 1 with an amazing teacher. I would not have traded for a smaller class.

[Anonymous]

We had 26 last year and there were five K classes in our school!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:24 is no problem. I used to teach and could manage a classroom of 33 (which was the most I ever had). It takes being outrageously organized, having excellent communication skills, and being very strict.

"Being very strict" ?!? - this is kindergarten! While it is good to have structure, I have seen teachers take the strictness route to extremes (due to large class size, behavior issue kids mixed in the class without enough support, incompetence, personality, etc). It generally has more negative outcomes than positive. Kids start to hate school and are more concerned about getting in trouble than learning. This is not best practice for kindergarten!

And PP - are there any aides in the classroom? Our son had only 22 in his class, but don't think the teacher could have handled even that number without the great aide who was assigned!

I'm not sure why you're equating the word strict with the word mean. They are not the same. I am very strict. Rules, order and boundaries are enforced. That does not make me mean.

[Anonymous]

I used to think that small class size mattered a lot. Now I realize that ratio matters and how much "qualified" help the teachers have (not parent volunteers, not paraprofessionals (and no offense to the paraprofessionals who I know provide great service to the schools). We moved away from MCPS to a different state. My dc was in 5th grade last year and the class sizes were high (almost 30). But there were tons of extra teachers in the building who weren't assigned a classroom who provided support to the classroom teachers (to do reading and math groups, etc., to provide learning support and also gifted support). The large class size became a non-issue.

I agree with the pp's that a great teacher can manage a K class of 24, though. Hopefully, your dc has a great K teacher.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:24 is no problem. I used to teach and could manage a classroom of 33 (which was the most I ever had). It takes being outrageously organized, having excellent communication skills, and being very strict.

"Being very strict" ?!? - this is kindergarten! While it is good to have structure, I have seen teachers take the strictness route to extremes (due to large class size, behavior issue kids mixed in the class without enough support, incompetence, personality, etc). It generally has more negative outcomes than positive. Kids start to hate school and are more concerned about getting in trouble than learning. This is not best practice for kindergarten!

And PP - are there any aides in the classroom? Our son had only 22 in his class, but don't think the teacher could have handled even that number without the great aide who was assigned!

I'm not sure why you're equating the word strict with the word mean. They are not the same. I am very strict. Rules, order and boundaries are enforced. That does not make me mean.

There is often, but not always!, overlap between strict and mean. It is a fine line. But many young kids interpret very strict AS mean. It turns them off from school.

[Anonymous]

My W school feeder had 5 classes of 27-28 last year. 24 is low. As one PP mentioned the focus schools are typically 16-17.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:24 is no problem. I used to teach and could manage a classroom of 33 (which was the most I ever had). It takes being outrageously organized, having excellent communication skills, and being very strict.

"Being very strict" ?!? - this is kindergarten! While it is good to have structure, I have seen teachers take the strictness route to extremes (due to large class size, behavior issue kids mixed in the class without enough support, incompetence, personality, etc). It generally has more negative outcomes than positive. Kids start to hate school and are more concerned about getting in trouble than learning. This is not best practice for kindergarten!

And PP - are there any aides in the classroom? Our son had only 22 in his class, but don't think the teacher could have handled even that number without the great aide who was assigned!

I'm not sure why you're equating the word strict with the word mean. They are not the same. I am very strict. Rules, order and boundaries are enforced. That does not make me mean.

There is often, but not always!, overlap between strict and mean. It is a fine line. But many young kids interpret very strict AS mean. It turns them off from school.

So do you not have boundaries and rules? If you do, do your kids think you are mean? I think you might be confusing having boundaries and rules with "I don't allow kids to do things".

[Anonymous]

24 can work but it depends on the kids. My child had a kid in his class last year that took up 10x the work of all the other kids. Felt bad for him but he had undiagnosed Issues and had never been to preschool.

[Anonymous]

Which schools are these?

[Anonymous]

OP: If you're at our school, which I think you might be at, PPs are right that this is a pretty good year for class size. Last year the K classes had 27-28 each. Have heard from parents with rising 1st graders that two teachers apparently did a great job handling the large classes while a third one did not. That teacher no longer teaches K at the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, did you find out from the school that there are 24 kids on the class list for your third child, who is starting kindergarten? Is that where this is coming from?

If so, I suggest that you give it a month or two and see how it goes, before getting upset.

OP here. I found out from the class lists when we went to the school to meet the teacher/bring supplies. And there was mention between another parent and principal that more register last minute so this might not be the absolute. I am not pulling her out of the school and yes I will give it a chance. I just had no idea the K classes are allowed to run that big. My 4th grader has 23 kids. My new middle schooler I am unsure of but anything over 20 seems excessive to me but I guess that is what I am used to. Sounds like this district has a much larger ratio.

And there are no aides. Just volunteers that start in mid October.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Max is 28 so you are kind of lucky.

Max is 28, but they don't add a new class until ALL classes are above that number. My child was lucky enough to be in a class of 29.

[Anonymous]

I think they now say there is no max just guidelines. They will not add a new class past a certain point in the year.