Kindergarten class size - what would you do?

[ABand3]

Ok - this is my first time starting a thread, and our situation is a little complicated, so please bear with me while I try to explain...

My DS is 5 years old and had his first day of public school kindergarten today. He is going to a magnet school which enrolls some neighborhood children (who get in because of where they live) and magnet children (who get in through a lottery system - you apply and get in if your number comes up; no testing whatsoever). We are in the magnet category, and choose this school over our neighborhood school because it has additional teachers/resources in science, math and technology, and thought it would provide a more enriched enviornment than the generic neighborhood school.

Anyway, today we find out his class size is 30 ! Only one teacher, no assistant/aide. The neighborhood school has 20 students per kindergarten class. When we were offered a place in the school through the magnet program they did not tell us this (and shame on me, I did not think to ask b/c when we visited, I think they said class size is capped at 22 or 24.) The principal of the magnet school has asked the district to provide another teacher, but can't promise anything and cannot give an estimation of the chances of that being approved.

What are your experiences with large class sizes? Is it in itself a bad thing or am I just having a bad knee jerk reaction? The teacher seems very talented, but is not happy with the class size either. My options are to stay put and make the best of being 1 of 30, move him to the neighborhood school, or homeschool (which I'm willing to do, but only after we give the public schools a try.)

Added to my concern is the fact that he is already reading and doing math - we haven't had him tested but he's maybe at a 2nd grade level, so maybe no kindergarten will meet his needs?

His opinion is that any school is great as long as he gets to play with friends and go on the playground .

Any other experiences like this? What would you do?

[CarrieMF]

I'd leave him there. He may be ahead in reading & math but what about the other subjects? Talk to the K teacher and see if she would be able to give him something that challenges him in those 2 sections. I went to school from K-12 in classes that had 28-32 kids/class. 30 kids on the first day is not that big of a deal, in a month there will probably be a couple less kids in the class. Your son likes it, why distrupt it.

[lauren]

One thing that occurs to me is that perhaps you could volunteer some in the class and/or organize some parents to volunteer. If the teacher is not happy either, then there would be room for helpers. Even cutting out things for the kids would take a load off the teacher. An extra pair of eyes would be a good thing too! Just a thought, don't know if you have time to do this.

[siddie]

Please check my earlier post on research and kindergarten class size - it is really important. Kids in smaller classes do better immediately and for the long term. This has been documented in the Tennessee Star and Wisconsin Sage studies. These studies prove that the ratio of kids to the teacher is most important and that kids with smaller classes like 1 teacher and 17 kids do better than 30 kids in a class with a teacher and an aide. I would move him to the neighborhood school because the primary class is where they spend most of their time and learn the basics like reading and math. You can always provide enrichment activities on your own. Kinders need the basics like reading and writing and socializing, there is plenty of time for science and technology. Divide up a 6 hour day into minutes per child and you will find out how much ind. time your child could possibly get.

[oceanbaby]

Are you in SF by any chance? If so, I'd love to talk via PM about which school you chose!

[EFmom]

I wouldn't be happy about it either, but I'm not sure it would be a deal breaker. My older dd's class had 26 in it, which was a bit much. However, the teacher was very experienced and fabulous and dd had a great year. There was no aide, but the teacher welcomed parents in, and most days there was a mom or dad helping out in the classroom.

[wildmonkeys]

I think whether parents are welcome to volunteer and whether there is much parental participation would make a big difference for me...

Also, is there something "bad" about your local school something you were specifically trying to avoid or did the magnet program just sound good? That would probably also influence me.

30 does sound large to me. DS is in a class of 20 with a ft assistant and a pt assistant who is shared with another class and the teacher was still saying how much they could use volunteers...

BJ
Barney & Ben

[PollySoloMiller]

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[PikkuMyy]

Man. I've been working with kids for 15 years and 30 kindergarteners would really stretch me to the limit...Where I currently work, kindergarten is 24 with a teacher and an aide, and the difference in the class when 3-4 children were absent was REALLY noticeable.

[ABand3]

Update

Thank you everyone for your replies. We have decided to stay put for now.

No one at the school has said this directly, but as I hear things it seems this class was maybe overloaded on purpose, knowing (well, hoping) that it will be enough to force the county to allow another teacher to be hired. Time will tell.

Even if the class stays at 30, this teacher seems very good, and has a good reputation. My son is very easygoing and won't be too bothered by the crowd or being overlooked as long as he gets his playground time, and frankly we don't have huge expectations for him actually leaning much there, other than how to get along in school.

There will be parent and grandparent volunteers in the class, hopefully most days -- I unfortunately cannot be one of them as I have a 2 y.o and a 2 m.o at home, with no childcare during the day. Also, there are gifted and talented resources available, I'm not sure in what form, and we will start down that path once the dust settles from the class size concerns, and the teacher gets to know him a little.

Another reason not to pull him out (yet, anyway) is that his siblings will automatically get a placement in this school while he attends, without going through the lottery system again. It's not that the neighborhood school is bad, just the magnet school is known for great parent involvement, getting extra private funding for special projects, winning teaching awards, etc.

Anyway, thanks to all for helping me think through this!