WWYD?

addison_clark

DS (almost 4) is in a swim class.  He started last week and has another week to go.  Parents are allowed to watch but only at a distance as she doesnt want us distracting.  There are 6 kids in the class.  Last week 3 out of the 6 were hellions!  And I wont say that my DS was completely innocent but overall I was proud of his behavior.  The teacher spent 99% of the time disciplining and warning and seperating kids...

So my question is, should I ask the teacher before the next class if she wants us parents to step in and say something to our kids when they are misbehaving or should I leave her to do it.  I dont want to step on her toes but I am hoping that if I say something maybe the other parents will hear me and agree to do something when the teacher is dealing with their kids (for the 100th time!)  And this isnt simple rowdy kids, these kids are pushing each other off the pool step while the teacher is working 1-on-1 with someone else, spitting on each other, splashing the teacher after she asks them to stop...

June2007

I would ask the teacher how she feels if a parent steps in if their kid is being overly disruptive. We had the same issue in ballet and the teacher said that it's up to us to judge when to jump in. We usually all waited in a separate room, watching through a window, but if my DD was running around in circles or fighting with another kid about "her" spot on the barre then I would walk in, pull DD out and have a talk with her. I tried to do it in a way that didn't distract eveyone more, like I wouldn't just yell at her across the room. There was one girl who was always running around, tripping other kids, sitting on other kids, hanging in the barre etc and her mom never did anything which I found pretty annoying after a while, so I get where you're coming from.

You're paying for these lessons and if the teacher is spending a lot of the class diciplining then I would really have issues. For our class we approached the teacher and asked if she needed a parent volunteer to sit quietly in the corner and just keep everyone on task. You could volunteer for something similar. The teacher might prefer that each parent just handled their own kid ( which is what happened in our case) but I think it's worth presenting. If other parents hear the conversation theyight be compelled to intervern too.B

angelakh

How old are the kids?  What ability level?  I think 6 kids to one teacher is too many.  IMO, that is not safe.  It would be almost impossible for the teacher to give much if any 1 on 1 time without the rest of the class getting bored and starting trouble.  However, that is no excuse for bad behavior.  I would speak with the teacher about it, but I would not feel comfortable leaving my child in that class.

UsedToBeGoldie

i would talk to the teacher for sure- if not the person in charge of the whole place (is it a YMCA?) that simply is not safe.

and this is why i have my 4y/o in private lessons - they cost about the same as the class at the Y and i don't have to deal with that kind of crap - and my son gets actual instruction the whole time.... it's at a local college.

CareBear0607

cmeon_the_water:

Holy- I can't believe they're spitting on each other, pushing each other, and disobeying the teacher- in full view of their parents! I don't care what her policy is, if I saw my kid spit on another kid, he'd be whisked out of there so quickly his head would spin.

I'd talk to the teacher- but, I'd probably be talking to her about switching to a different class. :-p

This for sure!  I would talk to the teacher.

addison_clark

Thanks for all the replies!  We are on our way to swim lessons now, I will say something to her at the beginning of class and hope the other moms listen too!

Floridamom224

I would also agree that 6 kids is too much for one teacher.  DS is 4 and has been taking swim classes for the past few weeks at the local YMCA.  The first day, there were 5 kids in the class and they had two teachers, or one teacher and an assistant.  two of the kids ended up not coming back to class, and so there are only my son and two others now.  They dropped it back down to the one teacher and that seems perfect. The behavior would probably be better of the kids if they werent having to sit around while the teacher is with the other kids teaching.  My son has some minor issues during class (like not staying on the wall or the step while waiting his turn) but that has been an issue for each of them, and they really just want to swim around or splash aroundw hile waiting and it is hard to just sit still.

In regards to disciplining, the teacher handles it, but if i feel the need to say something to DS I do.