What Level of Supervision Do You Expect at Preschool?

I only have to watch my two kids and I frequently misplace them, especially since 4 year olds love to hide.

Do you realize how many kids they have to watch? It was the kids fault for going where they weren't supposed to. They were prewarned and disobeyed anyway. I would not put the blame on the teacher. The teachers can't go outside and count heads every five minutes. When kids are given rules, they are supposed to follow them... period...

1) there is by law, and Preschools are licensed, there has to be a certain child to adult ratio.

2) All schools, have emergency plans, and safety plans. Playground plans too, etc. A TEACHER, should know, developmentally, per age of a child, the things that can or may happen. Kids this age, are not robots. Nor are they "experts" at following all rules. There needs to be, adequate coverage and Supervision... of areas, when kids are outside for playground time. And when kids go to the bathroom, schools have rules on that too... ie: having an adult accompany them etc.

Now, kids tend to meander. Knowingly or UNknowingly. But again, there should be, a school rule, per Adult supervision, of the play areas. Again, child to teacher ratios. And headcounts, periodically, of the kids.

At the Preschools that my own kids attended: in my son's class of about 15-18 kids, there were 3 Teachers. At my daughter's preschool of about 15 kids, there were 2 Teachers. AND the Director herself, routinely and regularly walked the campus at all times, to monitor things. And at the playground. Just as an example.

I do not agree, with how the Teacher handled your daughter or how she "explained" the situation to you. In this situation.
As you said, the Teacher did not seem to take any responsibility in it.
Kids this age.... are not static. They are very active. They are not robots.

I would also be concerned. Kids are quick, it is frustrating when they are old enough not to run off or run to certain areas they are not supposed to be.

Since you have lost trust and your daughter cannot stay in the play area.. This is not a good match for your child..In the next day care look for a totally fenced area with no way for your child to get out of.

Some children are testers.. They like to push the boundaries. (this can be a good trait). But they need more supervision than others.

Be sure to mention this at the next daycare you go to..

You admit that this is the SECOND time this month (and we are only 9 days in) that your "DD HID BEHIND A BUILDING WITHOUT THE TEACHER'S KNOWLEDGE". It actually sounds like you have a sneaky 4 yo and this was NOT the teachers fault. Had your daughter been where she was supposed to, and not hiding, this would not be an issue. So yes, teachers are responsible to keep an eye on young kids, but those kids need to learn not to hide and sneak around either. Clearly she didn't get into enough trouble last time she did it since she turned around and did it again. Good luck.

My kids preschool has 2 teachers to 8 kids. There seems to be lots of supervision and I don't think they would misplace one. That being said, I have 3 kids and I misplace 1 all the time LOL

For me, a lot of it depends on how long the kid is missing for. Are we talking an hour, or are we talking minutes? Also, it's not like she climbed a fence & was running in the street, she was around the corner.

It sounds like a 50/50 thing. It also sounds like preschool at a large elementary school is not a good fit for your child. It sounds like your child is a bit of a rule breaker & not very good at following the rules & may need a smaller, more controlled preschool where she will have more direction, discipline & attention.

Also, just curious if your DD got reprimanded for breaking the rules. If your child is not following rules at this preschool, then keep in mind that she will have problems no matter where she goes. I would start focusing on what is expected of her at preschool, starting yesterday, or else these problems will follow her wherever she goes.

Yes of course it's part of their job to supervise the children, and an NAEYC accredited school will have good child-teacher ratios in place.
But you do realize that in the moment a teacher's head is turned to speak to or help one child another child could go around the corner, and it could take several minutes before they would be noticed missing?
We had this happen a few years ago with some of our first grade girls. They started daring each other to leave the playground during recess. They even went as far as to distract the yard duty teachers so their friends could slip away. I know, manipulative, right? You better believe those kids were held fully accountable for their very risky behavior, including losing recess.
So yes, the teachers should be watching, but there's always a possibility of a child sneaking out (and it's illegal and unsafe to lock the gates to the property in case you are wondering.)
Honestly if you are pulling your child because of this and kissing I don't know that you will be satisfied with ANY school, you may want to consider homeschooling and save yourself the money and aggravation.

I have worked in preschools, elementary schools, highschool and well, I am forever counting and looking at children to make sure they are okay. I would think that they should definitely be blocking the area or watching to make sure or keep their mouths shut so you don't worry. As it is I am a hawk, was taught that when I was little and watch, watch, watch but I have to say I was really laughing at the other posts. Sadly, no matter what school you put your child in there are always little ones who try a new approach. But luckily she was fine and hopefully wherever you put your child you will find satisfaction. But continue to remind your daughter she can't do that.

If there is a constant problem with the kids going into that area, personally I would stand between them and that area if I was in charge. You cant expect 4 year olds to always follow the rules. For this age the ratio should be 1 teacher or aide for every 10 kids. There is no reason they should be constantly missing kids. I worked at a daycare, you have to count heads constantly. The first thing we did when we got to work was get a count so we would know right away if someone is missing.

Actually, Yes teachers can and do count heads all the time. A preschool should closely supervise 4 yr old children.

I think it depends on how long she is missing... Was all this over the course of 10 min or an hour? They obviously started looking for the other girl so were distracted for a bit. And if the property is surrounded by fences, not like the kids can wander into the street so monitoring is incredibly important and something horrible can happen in a moment. If your daughter did this before, the teacher is probably annoyed that she did it again. If this is the second time this month and it's only 8/9, your daughter is being pretty rebellious... I think the teacher only looks bad if your daughter was missing for awhile.

At all of the daycare centers/pre-schools my kids went to the teachers had their eyes on all of the kids, all of the time. I know this because sometimes we would get there late or leave early and I would be dropping off or picking up at playground time and the teachers could have a brief conversation with me but were always literally scanning and counting heads (and talking to the kids - don't throw sand, or Timmy it's Sarah's turn or whatever) the whole time. And there were always 2 of them for a class of fewer than 12 kids. When they're outside their only job is - literally - to watch the kids. There's no excuse for losing track of any of them. It's not like when we're at home doing other things and not even like when they're in the classroom, where they might have to get supplies, take a phone call, write a note or do other things that can take attention away. No excuse for losing track!

Part of the Montessori (I saw Montessori as your previous question asked about it) experience is to teach children self-responsibility as well. Your daughter knowingly broke the rules, not once but twice. Was she punished or rewarded at home for her behavior? It is NOT the first time she did it. Yes. She's 4 years old and we cannot expect her to know all of it. This is NOT the first time she did it.

Yes. It is the teachers responsibility to know where ALL of the kids are while under his/her care. That's why there are ratio's (number of students to teacher) to prevent things like this from happening. I would ask if they were in ratio. They should be apologizing to you.

Did they actually STATE she had been "very bad"???? I would tell them that while she is in their care - they are expected to curb poor behavior and to NOT call my child VERY BAD.

I would check to ensure that they are accredited as well. If they are accredited - you can lodge a complaint

As to getting your money back? If they want good publicity -- they would refund it all.

I would stress to my daughter that HIDING is NOT acceptable if you are not playing Hide and Seek. She needs to follow the rules as well. They are set up for her safety as well as others.

J., preschoolers are not small adults. You can't just tell them the rules and expect them to "obey" all the time. Yes, she might be a sneaky 4 year old, as another poster puts it, but that's a personality trait and does NOT relieve a teacher of her responsibility to watch the kids. There should be a gate around that corner that the kids cannot open but an adult can. That would fix the problem with the corner.

So another kid wandered off. What happened with that? Did the teachers abdicate their responsibility there too? Do they think that kids wandering off is all the kids' fault?

There is a problem here. And it starts from the top, J.. The director sets the tone. If she takes up for the teachers and says it's the fault of the children, then you know that she doesn't understand children, and she doesn't care enough to learn or change things enough to keep them safe.

Why did you put down all that money for the fall? I have never heard of having to do that - paying month to month (or week to week) in advance is more appropriate. If they will not give you your money back, I would report them to child services and have them investigated. Child services will tell them point blank that blaming the children is unacceptable. I would tell the director this before you walk out the door of her office, AFTER she refuses to refund your money.

If your local news has a segment on fixing consumer problems, I'd call them too. I guarantee you that this director will not want the TV people showing up on the doorstep to talk about children going missing and inappropriate expectations of 4 year olds.

Dawn

I think you are right to look elsewhere.

It is the job of the teachers to keep the children within sightlines, and to position themselves so that any obstructions do not hinder visibility. I know firsthand that this is an insurance requirement because I've directed and organized care for holy day services at a synagogue as well as had my own preschool. I'm sure your preschool director should also be familiar with this stipulation. Unfortunately, you are right-- lower-quality daycares and preschools often do not speak with the teachers about gathering and chatting. I've worked in childcare for a long time and the good directors are checking regularly to make sure that all the children are being observed. The not-so-great directors tend to overlook this, from my experience.

Sometimes, too, we can adjust the environment to establish boundaries which the children are more likely to heed. Even something as simple as creating a caution-tape type barrier or drawing chalk lines to remind the kids of the boundaries is better than nothing.

I would have been embarrassed and apologizing profusely if anything like that had ever happened while a child was in my care. Certainly, children need to learn to stay within the boundaries, and at four, some of the responsibility does fall on the child. However, we *should* expect things like this and then act in a preventative manner, proactively. Even at older ages, children do sometimes lack impulse control and anyone with a background in child development should be very aware of this.

Wow. It seems like this model may not be a good fit for your daughter. If she's done this twice in a short period of time then this is really more of a realization that this is not a good set up for her. This would have been a big concern for me when registering. This should have been a question that you asked before having her start. We asked about all kinds of safety policies.

My expectation of my son's preschool (much smaller with a more confined play area) is that my son is returned to me in the same condition I left him. Does that always happen? Nope. He comes home with bumps and bruises and scratches, but what my husband and I have realized is that when he comes home with a "boo boo" note it have never been due to a lack of supervision... it's been due to a lack of following the rules on his part.

If your child wanders off (knowing that it's against the rules), I would expect some kind of significant consequence at home and at school to make sure that it doesn't happen again. She's breaking the rules because all parties are allowing it.

Preschool are not anything like day cares so I am confused about that.

Is this a child care center on the school grounds or an actual pre-K class through the school system, like 8am to 2pm.

If it's a pre-k class they often don't even go outside with their own teachers. The teachers will go take their breaks while the kids are outside and the playground teacher takes the classes outside. If the kids are not going by the rules then they need to not go outside.

Since school just started they do need to keep an eye on them to help teach them to not go out of boundaries. Otherwise the kids should get in trouble for going where they are not allowed.

This teacher that was on the playground may have had 15-20 kids to watch, pre-school classes through the school system are not like child care. They are set up like real classrooms in the school with one teacher for the class and maybe an aid if they are lucky. My grandson's pre-K class had 27 kids in it with one teacher.

If the kids are not minding they should get time out and have to sit out. IF they continue to make the wrong choices then they have to stay inside at recess time.

Yes they should be aware of the kids and what they are doing but in all reality a 4 or 5 year old child that is in pre-k should know how to obey the rules. She is sneaking off intentionally.

It's preschool. Not nursery school. She knows right from wrong and has been told before to not do this. She needs consequences for her choices.

I don't even think the question is what we as parents, and grandparents, think about this. What does state licensing think about it? I'm sure this incident, if known by licensing, could have resulted in disciplinary measures (a fine at least). In most daycares where I have worked, administration would have disciplined the teacher(s) involved in some fashion. If it were a first time occurence, the discipline might be as little as a firm reprimand. Continued instances would likely lead to suspension, review and possibly dismissal of the teacher(s) involved.
You are correct in thinking the teacher should be taking serious responsibility for this incident. That the children were able to go around the corner at all is not the primary issue. That the teacher(s) were not quickly aware and responding to this is a serious issue.

This situation would be unacceptable for me!!! I worked with kids in many different settings before having my own, and it's my opinion that if you can't keep an eye on everyone at the same time, you probably should find a new profession. If here are two teachers, they should each have an area of the play area that they watch. I also used to count heads about every two minutes, or sooner if I had a younger group. It's inexcusable for this teacher to not take ANY responsiiblity, and in the future, that walkway should be the first place they look of one of the kids should slip through their watchful eyes.

I taught preschoolers for many years, so your question caught my eye. The children's outdoor time is not break time for the teachers. The teachers should be given regular breaks away from the children. Outdoor time is still learning time for preschoolers.
You are right when you say that it is not comparable to being at home. At home, you are expected to cook, clean and do other chores. Preschools divide these jobs up.
Yes, the job of a preschool teacher is hard. And exhausting. And underpaid. But the primary job of a preschool teacher is keeping children safe. This includes always knowing where the children are. If something had happened to your child, the licensing agency would have fined the preschool for not properly supervising children.