P.E.I. is trying to deal with late enrolments as kindergarten moves into schools for the first time in September, and classes will likely be larger than expected.

'It's harder to build that close relationship … when there's so many.'— Angela Sigsworth, teacher

The original recommendation to government was to have a ratio of no more than 15 students per teacher, which is already higher than the 12-1 ratio currently mandated. Since the kindergarten curriculum was introduced in 2000, kindergarten has been offered in private settings, mostly daycares.

Angela Sigsworth, a pre-school teacher and parent of a child starting kindergarten this fall, has been told her son could be in a class of 19 when he starts at Glen Stewart School in Stratford. She said that's too many.

"Definitely, because they don't have that one-on-one time. They can't," she said.

"It's harder to build that close relationship that you want to build with those children when there's so many."

When contacted by CBC News, the principal of Glen Stewart School said kindergarten class sizes have not yet been finalized.

The province assigned kindergarten teachers based on February enrolment figures, but new kids keep signing up. In an effort to solve the problem, the province has a new agreement with the three school boards.

One teacher will teach up to 17 kids. At 18 kids, the province will pay for an extra one-third teaching position to help out in that classroom. With 21 students, there would be a two thirds position. At 24, another full-time position would be available to split the class in two.

Ricky Hood, acting superintendent of the Eastern School District, said schools will also be looking at the mix of children in the classroom.

"You may have a number of students in a particular classroom with very special needs, and so that may be a very difficult situation," said Hood.

Hood said pre-screening of students is helping come up with class mixes based on student needs.

The new staffing model will be reviewed after the 2010 school year.

via www.cbc.ca

From – The New Poor – Cuts to Child Care Subsidy Thwart More Job Seekers

Here in Tucson — a city of roughly 500,000 people, sprawling across a parched valley dotted by cactus — Jamie Smith, a 23-year-old single mother, once had subsidized child care. That enabled her to work at Target, where she earned about $8 an hour. She paid $1.50 a day for her 3-year-old daughter, Wren, to stay at a child care center. The state picked up the rest.

She was aiming to resume college and then find a higher-paying job. But in December, she missed by a day the deadline to extend her subsidy. When she went to the state Department of Economic Security to submit new paperwork, she learned that all new applicants were landing on a waiting list.

Ms. Smith sought help from Wren’s father to look after their daughter. But he had his own job delivering pizza, limiting his availability.

“Some days, I’d just have to call in sick,” she said.

By March, she had missed so many days that Target put her on a leave of absence, telling her to come back after securing stable child care, she said.

Without the state program, she sees no viable options.

She, too, is contemplating going on welfare.

“It’s a blow to my own self-image and self-worth as a person who can take care of myself,” she says. “I’m totally able, physically and intellectually, to continue working. But I can’t work without child care, and I can’t afford child care without work.”

via www.boydjane.com