I am currently working as the coordinator in the English department in a bi-lingual primary school in Tampico, Mexico. I have been given the task of finding out how many teachers or aids should be in a class of 24 pre schoolers. We are very interested in providing the best environment for our young learners. We have a Kinder 1 for 3 yr. olds, Kinder 2 for 4 yr. olds and Kinder 3 for 5 yr. olds.

Thank you for your help.
:)
Peggy Hosken

Not an expert in this area.

All I can do is tell you my experience.

My son, 3, is in a 3-5 prK class with one teacher and one aid. Most of the time in the afternoon I see about 16 kids there. Sometimes more, since some are half day, some are full. So 16 norm, and maybe 20 plus at overlap times.

I think any fewer teach/aides would be tough, tough, tough. The teachers seemed stretched thin a bit. Many parents at the school volunteer, including us, and the teachers seem relieved when more help comes in. we take kids to the library and other little tasks. But you can tell that they breathe a sigh of relief when a volunteer comes in to take the load off... and I think this is at a really great school.

So... I'm sure there will be others here who are experts. I've only taught college level classes, and even then active classes like labs with numbers above 14-16 students can start to stretch you thin... and that's with "adults"

When I worked for Head Start, the class size was limited to 16. One teacher and one para or aide. But we had two sessions a day - a.m. and p.m. and there were three classes going each day (three instructors and three aides). If you have 24 students, I would say one teacher and two aides. If you have a child with special needs, that child needs his/her own aide.

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Originally Posted by Peggy Hosken

I am currently working as the coordinator in the English department in a bi-lingual primary school in Tampico, Mexico. I have been given the task of finding out how many teachers or aids should be in a class of 24 pre schoolers. We are very interested in providing the best environment for our young learners. We have a Kinder 1 for 3 yr. olds, Kinder 2 for 4 yr. olds and Kinder 3 for 5 yr. olds.

Thank you for your help.
:)
Peggy Hosken

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Hello, Approachng it from the mandated staff/student ratio under US IDEIA regulations (Individuals with Disabilities Improvement Act - 2004) the numbers are as follows: Up to 9 students: 1 teacher, 1 aide, up to 12 students add aide. The rule of thumb is the lower the better as intense instruction around readiness and socialization skills pays the biggest dividends at this age. Hope this helps. RM

Peggy I am an administrator in an elementary school. We have 4 pre-k classrooms among other grades. Three classes vary from 16-21 students (we have a large transient population) with one aid and/or volunteer grandparent. The other classroom is funded through a state grant is limited to 12 students with one full-time aid.