As parents of EGCSD, we feel Teacher Assistants are a necessity in our Kindergarten classrooms. The consideration of making less Kindergarten classes means more children per classroom and not having a Teacher Assistant does not seem adequate. Small group instruction will become impossible with one adult and 22-25 kindergarten children. As all recent research suggests - young children learn and prosper best when given the opportunity to learn in smaller more individualized groups. The Kindergarten teacher will not be able to meet individual needs because they will only be able to teach to the middle or average students. Children who are struggling along with children who are excelling will not get individualized attention to meet their needs. There simply won't be the time to enrich those children who are ready to learn more or boost up those children who need more attention on specific skills. There will be much more paper/pencil activities and much, much, much less with hands on, multi-sensory activities (again.....this is how children learn best according to ALL of the research). More time will be taken away from teaching due to dealing with monitoring bathroom, tying shoes, zippering jackets, etc........ Safety is a large concern as well. How is a teacher (especially in the beginning of the year when many of the children are still 4 years old and not yet acquainted with the school or procedures) suppose to lead the children through a fire drill safely when they are completely alone Without a doubt, there will be some children that are scared, crying, and wandering off - how does one person control 22-25 four and five year olds safely Same thing for playground safety - what do you do if a child gets hurt on the playground or needs to use the bathroom and you are outside alone Our children are still young and not adjusted to the school rules and ways of doing things. Children with behavioral needs will not be given individualized attention and these behavioral needs can and will impact the entire class. The teacher will need to stop instruction of the entire group to attend to one child and in the process, the rest of the children will be "lost" and off track. Without support of a TA and the addition children due to less kindergarten classes, it will be so detrimental to the children and their entire kindergarten experience.

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