Imagine that you possess the means and the knowledge to conduct
research studies about any topic in the early childhood field. Imagine further
that you are not restricted by the reality of the present. Imagine that your
study will make a major positive contribution to the well-being of children
and/or their families. What topic would you choose? What can you imagine the
positive contribution(s) would be?
If I could pick a topic to
study without any restrictions, I would chose to study smaller class sizes at
the early childhood level and the effects that it makes on a child’s
learning. I am sure this has been
studied before but maybe not to the extent of actually making it happen. I think this would bring about a huge
positive contribution to the education field, not only for the children but for
the teachers as well. The teachers could
focus more in on the needs of each individual student and then really dive deep
to help them be more successful in the classroom. The children would have their needs met better
as well. It seems today more than ever
that classroom sizes are growing and growing and that has a negative impact on
a child’s learning. Teachers are put in
classrooms with 25 plus kids and expected to make sure each child is as
successful as the other when it comes to the end of the year. That is not logical in this world because it
is evident that some students need a little more help than others. With a smaller class size, I feel that most
if not all of the students could be very successful.
I enjoyed reading your post and I agree with you in smaller classes for early childhood education. Young children need so much attention and sometimes when I am in the class I wish I could spent more time with a small group of children. I have noticed when we are low in count the children do better. They are more focused and express themselves more openly. I have 15 children in my class and last week we were really low, I had 10 children and they did so well. I worked in small groups of 5 and I noticed how the children expressed themselves more openly in smaller groups. Great post!!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed you posting. It is interesting that research supports small classroom sizes, yet funding continues to be decreased, resulting in the opposite.
ReplyDeleteLynette, I also enjoyed reading your post. Your are right small class room size make a huge different when it come to learning and teaching. Great post.
ReplyDeleteDarrell Sallam
In Connecticut, early childhood classrooms are licensed by the Department of Public Health. The regulations right now state that a room can have a ratio of 4 children to 1 teacher between the ages of 6 weeks and 3 years old. Childcare or preschool/nursery school 3 years and older is a ratio of 10 children to 1 teacher. Children in public school are not regulated once they get to kindergarten, although in my town, the classes are about 16 children to 1 teacher, and many classrooms have a paraprofessional also in the classroom.
ReplyDeleteLynette,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your post and I completely agree with you. I think classroom sized should be smaller. That way the teacher can give one on one attention to the students and actually learn how the students operate and how they learn. The students will also have that sense of security in knowing that their teacher cares about them they are spending time with them. Wonderful post! Best of luck!